Tidalis would at first appear to be a standard puzzle game, but there is quite a bit of depth under the hood. In truth, that’s an understatement. Tidalis is a puzzle game for everyone, from the very casual Bejeweled fan to the hardcore gamer who enjoys competitive play. Of course, for readers of this site, co-op is the main event, and the cooperative options in Tidalis are particularly robust, while at the same time very elegant and intuitive.
At its core, Tidalis is a “match three” puzzle game, but it’s much more than that, too. Various blocks of all colors fill your well, and each has an arrow. These arrows can be altered to point in different directions. To clear blocks, you must “fire” a block, which shoots a burst of color in the direction of its arrow. The burst will pass through other colors, looking for a match, and if a block of the same color is found within three blocks of the initial burst, then the second block fires another burst in the direction of its arrow. If three or more blocks can be connected in this fashion, all the blocks involved in the stream will clear. It sounds a bit complicated, but in practice its very easy to pick up.
When blocks land after falling from a clear, they shot out another burst. This can cause more streams to occur, if you’re sharp enough to move the blocks into place ahead of time, or perhaps just lucky. These chain reactions cause a multiplier, which pumps up your score. As you play, more and more blocks fall in from the top of the well. As with most puzzle games, when the well gets too full, the game is over. The streams and bursts are a simple innovation, but it has a dramatic effect on the "match three” gameplay. When you unleash a big combo, it’s a very satisfying feeling, indeed.
There are several methods of playing Tidalis. The tutorial levels start very simple, and take you step by step into mastering the mechanics of the game. Adventure mode involves a deserted island and some cute but strange talking creatures, if you’re into that sort of thing. The campaign consists of a series of challenges, asking you to complete tasks like surviving a time limit, or eliminating so many blocks of a particular color. If you just want to get into a fast paced game as quickly as possible, choose action mode. Interested in a slow paced, logic puzzle type of thing? Brainteaser mode is perfect for you. Prefer to zone out? It's all about Zen mode. Tidalis will play like many different games to many different types of puzzle game fans; there’s literally something for everyone here.
Tidalis incorporates multiplayer in two forms, versus and co-op. At any point in the game, a second player can sit down at the same computer and start playing; this is possible due to the control scheme, which allows for mouse and keyboard to be mixed and matched however you like. One player on the mouse and another on the keyboard can work in the same well in one player mode, and it works almost seamlessly, though only one stream can be in motion at a time. If you prefer for each player to have his or her own well, just pick two player mode. In this mode, a handicap and a few other customization options can be selected for either player. Online co-op is possible, too, and works similarly to the keyboard/mouse local co-op. Other features that are very co-op friendly are the revival function in Brainteaser mode and the co-op items, which can only be used to help your partner.
The fact that co-op is available in any game mode is fantastic, and goes against the current trend to tack on a single co-op mode for bullet point purposes. How many times have you played a game where a friend or family member walks by, sees what’s going on, and starts offering advice? Well, if you are playing Tidalis, they can just have a seat and start helping you at any point. Then, when (or rather if, as the game is really addictive) they get bored, they can just walk off and leave with no restarts or other negative effects. This is drop in/drop out co-op at its absolute pinnacle.
As far as replay value goes, Tidalis is a heavyweight. Between all the different game modes, you can look forward to many hours of play. All manner of modifiers can be thrown in, many of which change the game significantly, like extra gravity which pulls pulses down a level. As the parent of a color blind child, I was very pleased to see high contrast color schemes available as an option. You can tweak almost anything you like in Tidalis, and if it gets overwhelming, you can check out the wiki that Arcen has developed to help players out. Modders can create their own levels, themes, and even their own adventure modes. It’s a customizer’s dream.
I was extremely impressed by Tidalis. Arcen has shown a dedication to co-op, both in this game and in their previous AI War. During the beta, the developers were willing to listen to some suggestions we made which added to the high degree of co-op throughout the game. If you have even a passing interest in puzzle games, and are a fan of co-op, Tidalis is a title you must check out. For ten dollars, you cannot beat the value.