[Note: the video voiceover is from one of the game’s developers, not me.]
In the grand tradition of block/gem/colour-clearing puzzle games, “Chromathud” has you grouping blocks to clear them. But where it differentiates itself, and it’s a big differentiator, is in how you do it. You have a target number to reach, and have to select numbers that will add up to it (yes, just addition, no subtraction, multiplication, or division). Select a block that helps you add up to the right number, and it will be deleted from the playfield.
There’s an interesting difference between this and almost every other such puzzle game ever made: you can use almost any block towards almost every goal. In most of these games, to get rid of a blue block in an annoying place, you may have to wait until you have enough other blue blocks (or can move enough other blue blocks to the right place), but there are no such problems here. To get rid of a block that’s poorly positioned for your goals, you need only hunt around for other blocks that will help you add up to the right total. The game is pretty flexible too: if you are given a total of, say, four blocks you can use to solve a given problem, you can still solve it with fewer blocks if you’re able, and if that makes more sense given the block arrangement on screen.
Select carefully, as if you ever de-select a block it becomes “dead” and can only be destroyed via chain reactions you create with neighbouring blocks. Bombs are also present, as you might expect. Even if you already have “Math Fighter”, it’s still worth looking at because it plays out quite differently. 80 Microsoft Points.
Here’s what the developer (Chromathud Team) has to say about the game:
“A limited edition addition addiction!”