Marbles Garden — a marble shooter about defending the garden from golems
Golems push a long chain of colored marbles along a winding path. In the middle of the garden stands a cannon, and it fires the same marbles. Match three of the same color and they disappear, shortening the chain. There’s only one way to lose: the chain reaches the hole at the end of the path. It’s the classic Zuma setup, and it’s very different from marble games played on a static field.
The big difference is time pressure. In grid-based bubble shooters like Bubble Shooter Pro, you can think about every shot as long as you want. Here, the chain keeps moving, and every miss adds another marble to it, pushing you closer to failure.
Six color charges and seven chain bonuses
The bonuses are split into two groups. Six color bonuses are tied to marble colors: every marble you break of the right color gradually charges its bonus, and once it’s fully charged, a special projectile goes into the cannon. Seven chain bonuses appear at random directly on marbles inside the chain. To trigger one, you need to break the marble with its icon. The effects vary — time slowdowns, effects on the chain itself, a bomb, a steel marble.
What the stars are for
You get one star for every level you clear. On top of that, you collect stardust while you play, and once you’ve gathered enough, it turns into another star. Stars are spent on upgrading bonuses: each one has three power levels, and there are 14 upgradable bonuses in total. The game has 60 levels, and players in reviews say the campaign goes by pretty fast.
The game also works in your phone’s browser, which makes it a fit for mobile games collections. On a touchscreen, you aim by dragging your finger from the cannon, and you fire by tapping anywhere on the screen.