Cave Quest

Review

Isabella’s family live at the bottom of majestic mountains. The spectacle is greatest in winter. Her brother and parents enjoy short daily excursions in these mountains, but one day, she receives a call from her parents’ neighbour informing her that they have not returned home from their last trip, and that was some time ago. With her friend, Michael, she decides to head up to her parents’ village and ask the inhabitants if they could give her any insight into her family’s disappearance. All she manages to find out is that her brother ventured deep into the mountains after hearing about some sort of mountain spirit, and when he failed to return home, her parents went after him.  It seems there is no other choice for Isabella but to follow in her family’s footsteps deep into the mountains, in Cave quest!

Cave Quest is a Match 3 game with Hidden Objects elements, developed by MD Studio and published on the Steam platform by HH-Games on 12th January 2020.

There are two levels of difficulty in Cave quest: Relaxed and Timed. In the Relaxed difficulty, as would be expected, there is no rush and you can take your time to finish each of the levels, while in the Timed difficulty, you must beat each of the levels before the time runs out. Mind you, this is not applicable during the Battle matches against the Spirits and other Bosses.

The main screen in the game is the adventure map where you have 2 locations to visit at the start of the game, and as you progress through the story, more will appear.  In each location with which you can interact, Isabella and Mike are represented by two yellow helmets on the edge of a circle.

There are three types of Match 3 games, the first of which has you advancing within the story and discovering new locations. In these Match 3 stages, you have to clear tiles out of Isabella and Mike’s path until you reach the entrance to a new room. As you reach a new room, you’ll be able to interact with objects within the room.  You may need a specific object, such as dynamite, keys or a rock hammer, to activate the second type of play.  These Match 3 stages are pretty much the conventional Match 3 gameplay, and very good too, I might add. The last type is the Match 3 Fights, where you’ll have to beat the Mountain Spirits and the two main Bosses; these are really fun.

As I mentioned above, you’ll find an element of Hidden objects several times during your gameplay, where you’ll have to find hidden objects within one or more locations.

If you’re stuck, you can always go back to the Shaman’s tent, and he will probably give you the information you need for your next steps.

Good graphics and soundtrack. I really enjoyed the story and all the Match 3 levels.  Cave Quest is now firmly in the top three Match 3 games I’ve had the pleasure of playing.