Mixolumia Review

 

Sliding Blocks In Style-A Mixolumia Review

As a huge fan of arcade style puzzle games in a similar vein to Tetris and Lumines, I went into Mixolumia excited for another peaceful time sink. For a game I only stumbled upon through a late night search on Itch.io, it was shocking to see how polished and genuinely immersive Mixolumia was. 


Particulate Puzzling


Mixolumia shares a lot of art style choices with that of the fantastic Tetris Effect. When you clear a patch of blocks here, a rush of particles and shockwaves erupt onto the screen, coupled with an equally powerful rumble effect. This lends to the game’s overall impact, making every single clear feel worthwhile. While not related to the particles, the simplistic colorways of Mixolumia allow for a plethora of alternate colorways to mess around with.



In addition to visual effects, Mixolumia also shares a sort of dynamic soundtrack like Tetris Effect. As you clear more and more lines, the song gradually progresses and reaches its conclusion at 450 blocks cleared (the amount needed to finish marathon mode). It seems minor, but you truly feel the tension as the blocks fall faster and faster alongside the crescendo of the background tracks.



I’d say that, as an arcade puzzler, Mixolumia is perfect, however, because it is a by-the-books arcade puzzle game it still falls to the downsides of the genre. While the game remains simple, it doesn’t bring much to the table content wise, which some others in the genre have found ways around like Tetris Effect’s story mode or Lumines’ lengthier marathon mode. The main breadth of the game's main 5 modes will supply a bit of diversity, but nothing that really expands on the main core gameplay in the slightest. To conclude, Mixolumia is worth the price if you find joy in the main gameplay loop and nothing more, as it won’t give you anything else. As a game to continually come back and play in short bursts, it is fantastic. 


Mixolumia’s five game modes fail to really add anything to the gameplay other than simple changes like a time attack or no-fail mode.



Verdict


Mixolumia is a small scale and fun indie puzzle game I had a childlike joy playing. While it may not be a perfect game, It sure is a perfect arcade puzzler. I'd encourage anyone to pick the game up on itch.io so the developers get a larger share of revenue for this little gem.


9/10-Raw Arcade Glory

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