Chime seems rather unremarkable at first glance. It just looks like a typical Lumines clone which is true to an extent. Under its surface though it’s actually terrific fun and even better it’s all in aid of a great cause.
Much of Chime’s publicity is down to the fact that it’s OneBigGame’s first title. OneBigGame is a games industry charity initiative which offers all proceeds, from the sale of its games, to charity. It’s a fantastic cause and considering Chime is a bargain 400 points with 60% of its proceeds going to the charity fund, this is reason alone as to why you should get purchasing. There’s a bit more to it though and in exchange for the charitable donation, players get a fun Lumines-esque game.
The aim of the game is to place various shapes on a grid based board to create 3×3 or larger quads (blocks to you and me). As you do this, a music bar comes across the screen and eventually your actions change the musical structure. Very much like Lumines really, except that in the case of Chime the aim is to fill the board not clear it. Pleasantly it’s a much more relaxing experience also. Rather than the frantic nature of Lumines, Chime feels quite calming and the ideal game to play when winding down. It never feels excessively challenging.
Chime is very minimalistic. Each screen depicted within the game shows the bare minimum. Even the modes available are quite basic with only a time trial mode and free mode available to play through and five levels for each mode. Each level has a different musical piece attached to it. The levels cover the likes of Philip Glass, Moby, Markus Schulz, Paul Hartnoll from Orbital and Fred Deakin from Lemon Jelly. It’s an interesting mix but it all works quite well in conjunction with the game’s aims.
It doesn’t take long to ‘complete’ each level but the real fun comes from competing with friends in order to reach the top of the online leaderboards. It’s reminiscent of the ‘old’ days where the fun simply comes from being the best at a game and it makes a pleasant change. Achievement addicts will also be pleased to note that a 50 point achievement is unlocked simply for buying the game, presumably as a thank you for supporting the charity.
There isn’t much content to Chime and it certainly won’t take long to see everything that it has to offer, but for a mere 400 points, it’s still pretty good value. Throw in the fact that you’re supporting charities around the world and it’d take a pretty cold hearted person to not take a look at Chime.
VideogameUK verdict: 7/10
