Oftentimes, I like to play the chest thumping, adrenaline pumping, fast-paced action or adventure games.  You know the ones I am talking about, you swing from vines, battle bad guys, find treasure, and generally cause mayhem wherever you go.

That is all well and good, but does not really help you relax after a long day.  For that, you need a simple puzzle game with soothing music underlying the game.  That is exactly what I found in Bounce  Symphony.  Although this is an older game, hailing from 2004, it has a timeless quality which I love in a good puzzle game.  I had never seen this game before I found it while judging the Smartphone and Pocket PC Best of 2007 Awards, and it is one of my “Hidden Gems”.

Installation and Registration: Download the trial and install it via Activesync (or Windows Mobile Device Center for you Vista users) to give the game a test drive.  Pay the piper and you can download the full version of the game. 

Overview and Gameplay: This is a color matching game unlike any you have played before.   Most matching games are played in a strict and static grid, in which you must manipulate the positions of the colored shapes in order to match them and remove them from the screen. 

Bounce Symphony literally tosses this convention out the window.  Rather than a grid, you will be faced with a pool of colored balls, which bounce against one another and the walls making for a significant amount of unpredictable behavior.  You must toss the balls around in order to match up five or more like colored balls.  The beginning of each level will give you a small tip about the level and then send you on your way. 

Modes: There are three modes in the game, all of which are based upon the same basic principles: Relax, Think, and Speed.

In Relax, your task is to earn points by lining up five or more like colored balls.  Earn enough points and you will move on to the next level.  As you reach the higher levels special items and obstacles will be introduced.  Some of these may make the level easier while others add to the difficulty.  If you finish a level without earning enough points to move on then your game will be over.

In Think, you will be shown an image which you must match using the balls on the screen.  In many of the levels, you will be provided with extra balls which you can use to help align the balls you need to form the image For example, in the above image, the yellow balls are not needed to solve the puzzle, but can help you align the red and blue balls and hold them in place.  Match the image to move on to the next level.  Of course, as the levels increase, so too does the difficulty.

Finally, Sprint is identical to Relax, except a timer has been added.  You must create enough lines to earn the minimum number of points before time runs out.

Special Items: As you progress through the game, you will be presented with a myriad of special items which can help or hinder your progress. Special items can include:

• Obstacles, which are blocks that stand in your path or shape the playing field into several different areas.
• Bombs, which can destroy neighboring balls and other obstacles when used in a line (they will match with any colored ball)
• Special Bricks, which score a myriad of points when destroyed by a bomb
• Multipliers, earn double or even triple points for a row using these balls
• Chameleon Balls, which can change color.

Graphics: I found the graphics and animation in Bounce Symphony to be superb.  I love that the graphics take one of the oldest Pocket PC game themes (color matching) and put such a creative new twist on it.  The balls jiggle and bounce about the screen.  Various levels may even have different physics involved, with gravity veering toward one side or the other.  The animation is extremely smooth and really helped make this game unique.   This is the game that had the potential to be great or terrible, and most of that depended entirely upon the graphics and animation.  Fortunately, the developers of this game got it exactly right.

Nonetheless, I would love to see even more creative physics involved, such as certain colors attracting or repelling one another; or adjusting the gravity on different levels even more dramatically.  Additionally, this game seems ripe for custom levels with adjustable physics in each.  I would love to see what kinds of creative ideas the Bounce Symphony community could devise for this.

Music: With a name like Bounce Symphony, this game had better have good music.  I mean, it isn’t called Bounce Barbershop Quartet, or Bounce Semi-Decent Soloist.  Fortunately, the game did live up to its name with a lively symphonic track which really complimented gameplay.  This is one of the few games which did not immediately make me reach for the mute button.

Saving: There is no option to save your game midstream, so to speak, which can be a bit frustrating.  Nonetheless, the levels are grouped by fives or tens.  After you have completed a group, you will have the option of beginning a new game at the start of any group.

Conclusion: This is the kind of game that made me proud to be a judge in the Smartphone and PocketPC Best of 2007 Awards.  It is one that I truly would never have stumbled upon, but I quickly became addicted to.  Although gameplay is based upon one of the oldest concepts around (color matching), the free flowing playing surface and other attributes of the game make it truly original.  It is a great way to just take a five-minute relaxation break during the day (and requires much less space than Yoga).  I just wish the developers would revisit and update it; possibly even opening it up to the community to create some new custom levels.  So, check it out and see why I have named it one of my Hidden Gems.

Vital Statistics:

Name: Bounce Symphony

Platform: WM6

Also Available: WM5, WM2003SE

Developer: Escape Factory

Price: $19.95

Available From: Handango