My Gamer Perspective on Suika Game for Nintendo Switch: Fruit-Flavoured Fun for Anyone Under the Sun
A fun new addition to my puzzle game collection.
"Tutti Frutti, aw rooty! A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!" - Little Richard
When it comes to puzzle games, Nintendo Switch is my go-to console. If I'm stressed or in the mood for a quick five-minute gaming session, I turn to classic puzzlers such as Tetris, Puyo Puyo, Dr. Mario, Panel de Pon, Columns, or Puzzle Bobble to relax and unwind. They're brief respites from reality and great distractions from the daily anxiety I experience due to my autism.
However, one thing all these awesome brain games have in common is their brevity. The mechanics of most puzzlers is such that, whatever objects you're trying to clear, will continue appearing in abundance at an ever-increasing pace. Before long, it's "game over, man, game over", as the late Bill Paxton so eloquently put it.
However, I recently discovered a cool puzzle game that flips this formula: Suika Game. In it, you drop chibi manga fruits at your leisure, with the objective of causing two identical fruits to touch, merging, and transforming them into one, slightly larger fruit. Each new fruit you merge is bigger than the previous one, taking up more screen real estate.
Thankfully, you're never rushed and can take your time to formulate a strategy. This chill, relaxed vibe is a nice touch. As such, the challenge never relies on objects falling or rising at a frantic pace. Instead, it lies in getting identical fruits to collide into each other. Physics cause the fruits to shift, roll, and bounce off each other once dropped.
For example, fruits may wedge themselves into gaps, block access to other fruits, or even bounce themselves out of bounds, resulting in an instant game over. However, you could also be on the verge of a game over when a miraculous chain reaction of fruits rolling and merging into each other suddenly saves your butt (and current score). The fruit giveth and the fruit taketh away.
The biggest challenge, by far, is working your way to the top of the fruit evolution ladder and seeing the elusive, titular suika (watermelon). I tried various strategies and came close many times, but only recently encountered a suika for the first time. My strategy? Throw caution to the wind and rapidly rain down fruits at random. Sometimes, the best strategy is to just wing it.
Another awesome aspect about Suika Game is the simplicity of its gameplay and controls, both of which are super easy to understand. As previously mentioned, the objective is to drop matching fruits into each other. To do this, players must only use the Switch's left analog stick to move the cursor (a chibi manga cloud) and then press the A button to drop fruits. That's it.
In closing, if you've ever desired to share your love of gaming with anyone in your life who doesn't play video games, show them Suika Game. I recently introduced my mom to it, and now she's hooked. In fact, my mom is so good at the game that she even encountered a suika before I did, ha-ha-ha! Until next time, love, peace, and chicken grease!