Mahjongg Artifacts

[Azalee Freas]

MahjongArtifacts 2 is one of the most beautiful free online mahjong available online. The animated backgrounds and the tiles are magnificent. Your goal will be to travel the world, starting with Japan, to discover artifacts. Mahjong Artifacts 2 flash game is also available in download version for PC, Mac and Iphone.

Like bell bottom jeans and over-sized sunglasses, the age-old match-two game mahjong makes a stylish comeback in Mahjongg Artifacts 2. At a time when the match-three hype has died down, this ancient game energises the genre with loads of fun puzzles.

The main attraction is Quest mode that takes you on a globe-trotting graphic adventure in search of enigmatic artifacts. Clearing each mahjong layout nets you an artifact and opens a new scene that drives the story forward.

While the story itself is haphazard at best, it's a cute way of stringing together the puzzles. The gameplay remains faithful to the basic rules of mahjong solitaire with a few unique abilities thrown in.

An eye icon can be tapped to highlight tiles in play, making it easier to find matches. Green pearls awarded for successful matches can be spent on a shuffle of the tiles, undoing your last match, or even marking possible combinations on the board.

These added abilities make Mahjongg Artifacts 2 more accessible than competing titles without diluting the game's difficulty. You still have to worry about clearing certain titles so as to avoid getting stuck. Plus, unlocking some artifacts requires working to clear tiles quickly and without spending pearls on shuffles, redos, and hints.

Camera shortcomings may have you trading in your stunner shades for a pair of reading glasses, though. Multi-touch is overlooked in favour of two levels of zoom. Tapping a wooden idol situated in the lower-left switches between a screen-wide view and close up perspective of the board. The latter unfortunately zooms in too close, forcing you to stick to the default pulled back view.

Since tiles intentionally look similar to ensure that making matches is a challenge, scouting out pairs can be a real pain when pulled all the way back. Conversely, zooming in means more time spent scouring the screen because you'll pulled in so close that you constantly have to move the camera to view new tiles.

A nimbler camera along with the ability to post high scores online would help make Mahjongg Artifacts 2 more than just a blast from the puzzle playing past. Nonetheless, it's a worthwhile comeback packed with enough gameplay to keep you entertained long after those pair of gigantic sunglasses fall back out of style.

Mahjongg Artifacts is a PSP Mini based upon the traditional Chinese game of Mahjongg. The game sees you trying to collect all of the pieces of a lost ancient magical talisman with the evolving story being presented before each of the levels as a comic strip. The aim of the game is pure and simple; match two of the same tiles together as a pair from the left or right that has no tile covering it to remove them from the board to get closer to the two golden tiles that when paired together will end the level. I have played Mahjongg games since the retro days of the Amiga and 3DO, so it filled me with joy to see Mahjongg games make their presence felt on the PlayStation Store.

Graphically, Mahjongg Artifacts is everything that you would expect from a Mahjongg game as it does exactly what it needs to do. The comic strip that tells the story is well drawn, while the tile sets and backgrounds are rendered perfectly.

The game provides you with three game modes including: quest, classic and endless. The quest mode allows you to play through the story in sequence, while also allowing you to go back and replay levels you have previously completed as you wish. The classic mode allows you to play through anyone of ninety-nine layouts, while the endless mode provides you with an everlasting amount of layouts. The classic mode and endless mode both provide customisation options in the form of five available tile sets and twenty-seven backgrounds. The five tile sets are rather varied in their design and look totally unique from one another, while the still backgrounds are on occasion similar in their design; they are different from one another with an inspirational vibe to each and every one of them.

The controls work well with the directional pad used to navigate between tiles; the left or right analogue sticks being used for moving the camera left, right, up or down; triangle to provide a hint for where a current matching pair of tiles are located on the layout; X to select a tile; square to re-shuffle the layout of the tiles and O to undo the previous pairing of tiles and to return them both back into the layout, while the L and R buttons are used to zoom in and out.

There are no difficulty levels to choose from, although you will naturally feel the game become harder to play as you progress through the extensive quest mode. If you enter the game never having played Mahjongg before, then there is a rather handy help menu located on the main menu which will certainly get you up to speed in how to play this wonderful game in no time at all. In earlier layouts you may be able to clear a level within two to five minutes, but the further you progress the more difficult it will become to find the matching pair of tiles, which always results in longer playtimes for later levels.

Mahjongg games will always have at least a certain level of replayability and Mahjongg Artifacts is no exception as it has a plethora of content from game modes to customisation options. You are able to replay any of the quest mode levels to vie for that higher score, which is recorded on a local hi-scores top eight menu as is the case for the endless mode. There is also an artifacts screen that displays all of the artifacts that you have unlocked as you have progressed through the quest mode, alongside your overall time, score and the amount of tiles that you have paired together. These kinds of features provide Mahjongg Artifacts with an entertaining pick up and play feel, whether you usually play PS Minis or not.

Overall, Mahjongg Artifacts delivers everything that you would expect from an entertaining Mahjongg game. The only criticism that I can give Mahjongg Artifacts is that it lacks the touch screen play of the iPod version, although this is a PS Mini version, so it is somewhat to be expected, but a Vita specific version of the game with touch screen play, worldwide leaderboards and a full trophy list would elevate the game considerably further. However, they are minor criticisms and if anything, only citing what could be done with the PS Mini to take it another step up and as a PS Mini priced at only 3.99, this is a highly recommended purchase, especially if you are a fan of puzzle games as it is guaranteed to last you a long time. I just wish that G5 Entertainment would make the sequel that is also available as a PS Mini compatible with the Vita too, as it is already compatible with the PS3 and PSP.

Mahjongg Artifacts is a captivating tile-matching game developed by Alawar Entertainment, Inc. It offers a unique twist on the classic Mahjong game, combining traditional gameplay with exciting new features and beautiful artwork.

Players are immersed in a world of ancient ruins and mystical artifacts as they embark on a journey to solve challenging puzzles. The game features multiple game modes, including Adventure, Classic, Endless, and Puzzle modes, providing endless hours of entertainment for players of all skill levels.

One of the standout features of Mahjongg Artifacts is its stunning graphics and immersive sound effects. The detailed artwork and dynamic animations bring the game to life, creating a visually appealing gaming experience.

Whether you are a seasoned Mahjong player or new to the genre, Mahjongg Artifacts offers something for everyone. With its blend of classic gameplay and modern features, this game is sure to provide hours of entertainment for players of all ages.

As much as I love the San Francisco Bay area, there are times when it all seems too crowded, too modern. I start yearning for an older, less-hurried California with plenty of open spaces and its Spanish-Mexican colonial roots clearly intact.

Actually, Sonoma is not so much a town as a charming time warp, a kind of California-style Brigadoon. The fact that the gentle grasslands surrounding the town are called the Valley of the Moon only adds to this faintly mysterious aura.

Getting to Sonoma, I discovered on the bright spring day on my last visit, lives up to the old cliche of being half the fun. Along the 45-mile drive north of San Francisco, the suburban landscape quickly gives way to brilliant green meadows dotted with mustard flowers. In the distance a rim of mountains appears bluish-gray on the horizon.

Even allowing for a stop at one of the many farm stands along the way for a jug of cherry cider, it takes only an hour to reach Sonoma Plaza. This eight-acre shady square in the center of town is an historic landmark, a splendid example of the Spanish colonial plazas that were the cultural heart of the early Califoria mission villages.

Rimming the plaza are a dozen or more venerable adobe buildings, most of which have been painstakingly restored during this century, some just a few years ago. The gradual addition of modern shops and services during the past 150 years have scarcely marred Sonoma's frontier feeling.

For most of its early existence Sonoma truly was a frontier, the site of the last and northernmost mission of the Spanish colonial chain. In 1834 the Mexican government, which now controlled California, sent Mariano Vallejo, a young Army officer, to take charge of the Sonoma mission and to keep watch on the russian settlements to the northwest. Much of Sonoma's current charm can be directly attributed to the enterprising Vallejo, who designed the town to be one- mile square with the spacious plaza in the center.

An excellent place to begin a walking tour is where Sonoma itself began -- at the Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma located a half block northeast of the plaza on Spain Street. A 50-cent admission charge buys a ticket also valid for the Sonoma Barracks, the Vallejo estate, and other landmarks of the Sonoma State Historic Park.

3a8082e126