If anyone reading this tries to pin this game as just a “2048 ripoff”, then we’ve got a problem here, because Threes is a total original, and has been since it came out all the way back in 2014.
I’ve played countless hours of this on my phone ever since the initial release, and after seeing it go from being an underdog amongst a wave of uninspired ripoffs, to eventually being rightly recognized as one of the best puzzle games of its generation, I’m glad to see it finally make its way onto Steam, as enjoyable and light on its feet as ever. Everything from the little whoosh of moving a piece, to the adorably anthropomorphized designs of the tiles, to the compact minimalism of the game’s interface, is perfectly calibrated to make for an exercise in absolute delight.
I will say that it’s not particularly hard to hit a wall with the learning curve here (it took me a solid 6 years of consistently playing just to go from getting occasional 768s to occasional 1536s), and that some might consider the game overpriced, particularly if they’re not as into just fiddling with the perfectly tuned mechanics again and again, as they are into constantly reaching new skill levels at a frequent pace…. but considering all the years and all the time I’ve spent playing this, whether I was at home, at school, or just out and about, I thought grabbing this here was an apt way to show my appreciation for all the pure, bite-sized fun I’ve gotten from playing around with this game for so many years.
Another excellent version of a downright wonderful game.
9.3/10