An interesting little puzzle game. Although I have never played Columns before, I already like the game a lot. It gets frustratingly addicting, as I have been playing this game nonstop for the past 4 days.

At first I thought the title was just something to be funky. You know, like Tomb Raider GOLD or Street Fighter EX. Something that sounds cool and l33t and crap. Well.. I didn’t expect the Columns Crown to be the point of the entire game. The overlying purpose is to find the jewels of the Columns Crown in the different game modes.

I have only tinkered with the Survival Mode and the Flash Columns puzzle. Survival is straight up endurance puzzle. Unlike Tetris, your score is dependent on how many jewels you remove from the playing field. That’s right, you don’t get awarded arbitrary points for placing them and whatnot. Flash Columns is where you have to try to remove one special jewel from the field.

This game is pretty hard to understand and execute well for first time players. Most people (myself included) start playing it like Tetris and end up with very low scores. This game requires a lot more spatial planning.

I have yet to play with the multiplayer or the Vs. Com mode, although I’d wager they are somewhat similar. I won’t be docking points from the game for its somewhat silly storyline. Puzzle games don’t need one anyway so it is not like it isn’t a complete game without one.

Expect the full review later this week.