Doctor Who Legacy

Like most people with any interest in casual games, I have dabbled in Candy Crush (CC). My wife is so ensnared in its sugar-spun web, that she has decided that she needs to give it up for lent this year. I like the game, though the cutesy graphics annoy me. When playing CC I keep going until I fail a level, then I usually log off and find something else to do. The map showing your progress along the path to social isolation is cunning, but the game still doesn't keep me wanting one more go. I haven't downloaded it to my tablet, and if I get a decent slot of time on the family PC then I use it for other games or projects.

A few years ago I did develop a significant Chuzzle habit. I liked the graphics and loved the sound. The trophy room kept me coming back, and I won every single trophy apart from the 'pop a million Chuzzles' one. I learned how to hack into the files to see how far away I was, and I still had another 450,000 or so to go. That would have taken far too many hours so I retired.

Since then no casual game has sunk its hooks into me. If there was a good looking, funky sounding puzzle game that provided challenge and progression, then I'd probably take it on. If it was also based on one of my favourite shows then I'd be in real trouble.

Well somebody help me, because I've discovered Doctor Who Legacy (DWL). This has been out for a while, but I resisted investigating until a week or two back. Now there's no going back.

Ha! Gotcha! Pity I won't remember it

Like Candy Crush (CC) and Chuzzle, DWL is a 'match 3' game, meaning that you must arrange objects around a grid to get 3 or more in a row. However this isn't just a case of dressing up CC in a Whovian skin.

In DWL you play on the side of the good Doctor himself, with a team of companions taken straight from the show. You battle against Daleks, Cybermen, The Silence, and other less well known villains. If you match the gems in the grid then your foes take damage. For every round they survive, they blast your team, reducing their total Hit Points (HP). So far, so so so. However, each companion has a special power. For example Rory can heal your team, regaining lost HP. Madame Vastra delivers a riposte, effectively free damage to your opponents. Even better, as you progress through the game the companions gain experience, getting tougher and increasing their powers.

Time fragments are dropped, which unlock higher levels for your team. These are regular and predictable, but there are also rare drops of new companions, different incarnations of the Doctor, and different outfits for them all to wear. There's even a storyline to work through, though so far I don't think Neil Gaiman will be looking over his shoulder. Still, it isn't a role playing game so that's a little unfair.

Porridge gets an upgrade

The artwork has a very nice comic strip style, and the Doctor Who theme playing away in the background means that I actually plug in the headphones rather than just turn the sound down. I found a good article on the development of the game on www.computerandvideogames.com which explains that it is partially inspired by 'Puzzle & Dragons' which I've never come across, though I can see it after watching the trailer. 

The game has a good web site and fan community, that has some excellent tutorial videos here by The Adipose TV. Adipose makes my Pirate Galaxy blog look very amateur. His YouTube channel looks like a key resource for gamers and I'll be checking it out. So far the game is also free from heavy handed monetisation, so if you don't want to pay then you can enjoy it still and progress at a pleasing rate. 

At first DWL is easy enough, but soon gets tough enough to make you work. Spotting the best combinations and working out how to thread them together is harder than I thought. Good brain exercise.

DWL obviously works for me, but what if you're not a Doctor Who fan? Well you don't need any knowledge of the show so that's not a problem. However if you have a pathological hatred of all things Whovian then I doubt if you'll have read very far into this post. 

Doctor Who Legacy is a great game and well worth a try. Just be prepared to sacrifice a few hours to it.