Luxor

Luxor 3 is the third in the tile-matching game series from Mumbo-Jumbo. The game is themed around the ancient Egyptian world, with scarab beetles pushing the balls along a pre-determined path. More and more balls roll onto the screen until a certain score is attained, the faster this happens, the less balls the player will have to contend with, and therefore the longer they will take to complete each level. Once this point has been reached the final scarab will trundle onto the screen, pushing the balls around the course and heading for the pyramids at the end. Should a ball fully exit into the pyramid, all the rest will accelerate after it and the level will be lost.

The player controls a falcon, loaded with spare balls. There are two balls visible, the one that is available to use and the next one. These can be simply swapped, either by right-clicking the mouse or by pressing the space bar. The balls must be fired into groups of the same colour to remove them, with bonus points being awarded for chain reactions, combos and shooting through gaps to make a score. Occasionally objects will pop up on the screen and the player must endeavour to shoot them in order to score the extra points. Some of the tiles are power-ups, distinguishable by the symbols marked on the balls. Simply matching these balls with others of the same colour activates the power-up which lasts a certain length of time before deactivating. It is possible to have multiple power-ups in play at any one time.

The game becomes harder as the player progresses through the levels, with new sets of balls, each pushed by their own scarab beetle come onto the screen and travelling a little faster too. The game is addictive and players will work to beat the clock and their own personal best. The graphics and music are good, and while older PCs may experience the odd glitch or lag, the game flows smoothly.

Pros

• An addictive puzzle game, good for hours of gaming or a few minutes during a lunch break
• Plenty of levels with enough variation to keep the player coming back for more

Cons

• None known