Capsule Review: You Must Build A Boat
Like its predecessor 10,000,000, a match-3 game with endless runner and RPG elements, where obstacles and enemies must be overcome by matching the right kinds of tiles, and other tiles grant resources that can be used to purchase upgrades between runs. But there’s a lot more spectacle and complexity going on between runs - you’re expanding your boat, recruiting allies and monsters, traveling between different areas with different enemies and different bonuses and penalties active in the dungeons. It’s better balanced and more engaging than 10,000,000 but still has the same design philosophy, where each run makes you better off for the next, and eventually you reach a satisfying end. If you only play one of them, play this one.
I Stopped Playing When: Once I completed a playthrough by clearing all quests and areas, I looked up how to get the secrets I’d missed and got those, and then I was done. You can restart the game to keep going (and there achievements for doing this multiple times) but I wasn’t interested in doing it all over again once I’d seen everything and there wouldn’t be any new surprises.
Three Stars: Good. I liked the game enough to finish it (or just play it a bunch, for games that don't end). I recommend it to most genre fans.