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I played through Grindstone while it was a mobile game and I'm playing through it again now on PC. That's how good this game is.
While it may look like your typical Match-3 puzzle game on the screenshots, it actually isn't one. The game uses rather unique mechanics to challenge the player.
You play as Jorj, a family man and hard worker. Your job is to collect shiny gems, the titular Grindstones. To get these gems you need to slay monsters that live inside a big mountain cave.
Basic gameplay revolves around drawing lines from Jorj through same-colored monsters to perform a combo. Jorj will move through once you end your round. if you get a combo of 10, a Grindstone will drop on a random tile. Moving through a gem allows Jorj to change from one color to any other color, making it possible to chain larger combos. Bigger combos give bigger gems which are worth more Grindstones. This acts as the currency of the game.
After Jorj made his turn, enemies will make theiris. If Jorj moved nect to an aggroed creep, he will get attacked. Creeps will aggro randomly on each turn and will stay angry until they are killed or have attacked Jorj. There are also big baddies who have more health and you need to meet a target combo number before you can slay them but they work like gems and allow you to chain into another color of choice. Big baddies drop loot that Jorj can collect during his move.
Each stage has a specific goal, most of the time you need to slay a specific amount of enmies, sometimes you need a set number of Grindstones. Later stages might have more complicated goals that you need to solve. Once you finished the goal, the exit gets opened but you don't have to leave right away. If you want, you can still grind the level for loot and gems. However, the longer Jorj sticks around, the faster enemies get angry and at some point you might get overwhelmed and won't find a single safe space anymore.
There are also two sub goals on each stage, getting a treasure chest and killing the King creep. The king creep has 5 HP and needs to be killed in a specific color and does not allow you to change color, which makes it somewhat tricky to get him. If you get him, he will give you a crown that you need to open new sections of the game.
The treasure chest on the other hand needs a key that one enemy on the map gets. If you kill that enemy, you can collect and open the chest with a combo of 5 or 10, depending on the rarity of the chest. The chest will contain some loot and sometimes a blueprint. All three objectives are marked on your map but you generally need only the main objective and a handful of crown objectives to get through the game. Getting all objectives however makes the game a lot easir in the long run.
Early on you get introduced to equipment. Jorj can have three different items equipped and these can be used during a level. Items are divided into two types, one that recharges between level and one that needs to be replenished. The first one is generally weaker but can save currency, the second is more powerful but could be too expensive on the long run.
There are different types of equipment like swords that allow Jorj to attack in specific patterns, shields that allow Jorj to block attacks and relese effects if he does so, arrows that can be shot at a single enemy to kill it and utility items that can have all types of effects. Jorj can mix these however he wants, if you want to take three swords to a level, the game won't stop you.
Blueprints that you get from chests will allow Jorj to craft new items if he has the right materials. These materials are what you get from the enemies and sometimes obstacles that are on the field. You can also find blueprints for clothing. Clothes allow Jorj to have a passive effect and might interact with enemies or your equipment. Clothes never need to be repaired and just like equipment it can be switched between levels however you like.
The game offers a lot of additional content besides the main levels. There are three types of daily challenges that you can do and compete on leaderboards with other players. There are also bonus stages that offer a lot of materials and gemstones, once you finish them and if you beat the entire bonus section, you get a blueprint for a random golden equipment. Golden equipment is a more powerful version of the same item that allows you to use that item six times during a stage. Gold is however very rare and the player has to actively grind for it to get enough for golden items.
Overall the game is very fun, you can play this game very casually or you can try to compete with others players on the daily leaderboards. Mixing equipment and testing new strategies is mega fun and the game has so many levels that it will take you a long time to finish the game.
The visuals are also very nice, the game uses a cartoony but rather gory art syle. Copmbined with the soundtrack you have a very pleasant gaming experience.
If you like puzzle games, you totally should get this game.