Last month, King.com announced the release of Pet Rescue Saga on Facebook, another game in the company's long line of match-three games. Pet Rescue Saga takes the standard formula of clicking on groups of two or more like-colored symbols and slows it down a bit by only offering you a small group of non-replenishing squares, with the overall goal being to remove as many squares from the board as you can.
Each level's board comes in a different shape, and some columns may hold trapped animals on the top. As you clear columns containing those animals, they're rescued from the board, and you can continue to eliminate squares until you either clear the entire board or run out of moves. Since squares won't regenerate, each level becomes more about strategy than speed, as players that use forethought and planning will be able to destroy far more blocks and therefore earn far more points than those that frantically click on matches as they see them.
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Each level has a pair of goals, like those that ask you to earn a certain number of points, rescue a specific number of pets or clear a certain percentage of the blocks on the board, and while these are fairly easy to complete, earning all three stars on a stage isn't. There's a great deal of replayability here, as you can continue to retry levels until you earn all three stars on each stage and eventually decide to continue on.
Later stages unlock power-ups like a rocket that can clear out an entire row or a hammer that can destroy a single block that's preventing you from completing a stage. Levels layouts also become more complex and difficult to clear, with obstacles that prevent some blocks from falling or touching. While this overall gameplay setup of destroying as many blocks as possible in a single stage definitely isn't new, it's these additions of power-ups and obstacles, the ability to replay levels, and the overall colorful, beautiful graphics that really make Pet Rescue Saga stand out.
If you've yet to try Pet Rescue Saga on Facebook, you can now jump in with the game's over 1 million monthly players for free.
Play Pet Rescue Saga on Facebook now >
Have you tried Pet Rescue Saga on Facebook? What do you think of this strategic twist on the normally fast-paced match-three gameplay? Sound off in the comments!