Captain Backwater

Review

Sailors, avast ye (pay attention)! See this old scroll in my hand . . .  can someone tell me why sailor Sean is looking at my hook? Oh, shiver me timbers - this scroll is the map of the archipelago right in front of us! One hundred islands in total and all have a cross on them! That’s right me hearties, each hold exceptional booty for the taking. Arrgh, now seriously . . . does anyone on board have half a brain? “Yo Ho Ho” the entire crew screamed! “Oh boy, it’s going to be a long treasure hunt”, thought Captain Backwater.

Captain Backwater is a casual puzzle game where you have to loot one hundred Islands - what a pirate’s dream!

Well, this is a very interesting puzzle game, to say the least. The game set out as a square with ten by ten tiles. Your goal is to match two, three or even four items on the square by colliding them into each other to clear the level with a minimum of moves.  You have one hundred stages to clear and there are plenty of variations. First, in each level some of the tiles will be occupied by a rock, which in most levels is pretty handy but in others can be a pain, especially if the rocks divide two areas in that level. The rapier icon will help you to destroy one of these rocks. The trick is to know which rock to destroy so you can clear the level. Other levels don’t have items of the same colour and you‘ll probably ask yourself, how am I going to do this? The answer is easy, look for which tile has a splash on it and make sure to send your object to it; it will then change colour to match the other item. The other way is to paint them using a paint brush, if it is available to you. On some occasions, neither of them will be available. However, bombs and dynamite will probably be placed in some tiles, which can be very helpful in those instances. Some other variants, like the spikes, can make a level tricky and as soon as one of your objects hovers over the tile where the spikes are located, that specific tile will be blocked. If you see a parrot on the sign where your score is displayed, well you’re going to have fun . . . each time one object touches another (not the one it should collide with), its colour will change.  As for goblets, make them collide and a monkey will appear, indicating time for you to catch bananas, giving you additional points at the end of the stage.  There are plenty of other variations which I’ll let you discover for yourself.

You can also collect coins. These are hidden on squares and can be collected if one item hovers over it, but be quick to use your mouse to pick them up, just like the bananas.

In regards to the gameplay, it is very simple. Select an item and with your mouse select the direction you want it to go.

Graphically, Captain Backwater is colourful and the soundtrack is cool!  As I mentioned above, I really like the variations. It’s a great game to introduce to children who have never played puzzle games. The game runs well but currently crashes when you switch it to full screen.