Marble Magicks

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marble magicks is a unique (as far as I know) matching game with some math and physics. the in-game help sort of describes the basics and has interactive demonstrations of all the power-ups (there are a lot) and a few tutorial levels, but I'll summarize things anyway.
drop colored balls from the top to create horizontal matches of 3 or more (connected balls will also get removed). their numbers represent weight and point value, 5 of the same on top of each other merges them and their values get combined, shown on the bottom. scales are in pairs, indicated by dividing lines and number colors down below. putting a ball on one moves the other up if it's lighter, hurling already placed balls around. if they leave the screen, they turn into weightless/pointless barrels, one of the explosive power-ups. others change ball color or behavior, e.g. regular ball to bomb or stone, etc.
arcade mode is the default on normal difficulty, easy, hard, extreme and free have to be unlocked, but gameplay customization is also available. starting and end level, next level goal, wildcard rarity and the amount of each power-up. level size too but it has to be unlocked as well. versus is local 2-player mode, same difficulty and customization stuff applies. mid-run saving is available in both modes.
the level, and with it the difficulty and marble and power-up variety, increases after every 50 drops by default. that's when a silver crystal shows up, gotta drop and create a threesome to clear the board and get a bunch of points. crystals are also used to unlock more difficulties, customization options and songs. not sure how they work, I matched 4 in one game and had 15 to spend after. probably related to score and whatnot.
there's no time limit, just a distracting clock in the corner, but a timer toggle got patched in quickly and there are separate leaderboards for all the modes and difficulties, except versus.
there are also 23 puzzle levels, this is where the 6-level tutorial can be found. they're all unlocked from the start, you get a description of the situation, make it happen. I couldn't in most cases but that's neither here nor there. a major shortcoming is the lack of a restart and retry button in the pause menu and the level complete screen, even though restart is available in other modes.
rebindable controls after a patch, by default it's arrows for player 1, asd for player 2, space to select stuff, enter doesn't work. mouse and controller do, both in-game and in the menus. keyboard might be a better idea, especially if you're mathematically challenged like me, because if you move the claw over a column that would become heavier than the connected one after the drop, the numbers on the bottom start blinking. with the mouse it's one click to pick up the next thing, another to drop it wherever. faster but easier to make a mistake.
the game doesn't look great but not every match-3 has to have the same big fish/casual visuals. the music is pleasantly retro to match the graphics and settings are pretty good but only audio toggles are available while playing a level. otherwise there are separate volumes, resizable windowed mode, some languages, the aforementioned timer toggle and various customization options and other unlockables. you can also listen to the available songs at your leisure and there's in-game representation of achievements called 'missions'.
it was in dire need of polish on release but quickly and mostly got fixed up based on feedback. it could still use more work and clarity but it's different enough to be worth a shot for a single dollar.

This game is a remake of an obscure PS1 puzzle game called Swing... and I couldn't be happier that it exists. It's missing the odd couple of mechanics, and some of the game logic is slightly different to the original, but I spent many an hour playing it as a child, and had almost forgotten that the game existed until I saw this pop up on my suggested games. And it's close enough to the original that I get the same "one more time" feeling when playing this.
There's a bit of polish needed here and there, but overall, especially at such a low price, it's a steal for anyone who likes their puzzlers, with some mechanics that anyone who hasn't played Swing won't have come across in any other game out there.

Not 100% sure what to say about this one. There is certainly a lot going on.
I think the developer is around though, and does answer questions, of which I have a lot.
The goal is to get three tokens of the same color next to each other, but they also have weights which impacts where they will stop, and in some cases cause pieces to pop up over the top and go down some other tube.
Your main decision is where to drop your token, but it is complicated by the fact that where you drop it determines which token your next one will be.
Pretty sure I don't have the strategy figured out yet.
There are also power ups, but they are not explained anywhere, so you have to figure them out. Though if you get three of the clear crystals lined up, it seems to clear the board.
That said, I find it interesting, and keep coming back to try and figure it out. It feels like something I might try to write a guide too if I succeed.
One thumb up.

a unique take on match three games. I like it