Last Updated on October 21, 2024 by TM
Homescapes is a fun and captivating mobile game that is developed by Playrix and was released as an aftermath to Gardenscapes. It combines a match-3 style puzzle mechanics and a home renovation storyline. This made the game become popular really quick.
Homescapes gives you an awesome experience that offers players a simple goal which for sure is to restore the house to its former glory. This makes the game have a unique touch when compared to other games. Let’s find out more about this game.
Storyline & Objective
The main storyline talks about a character named Austin who happens to be a friendly butler from Gardenscapes. He returned to his once upon a time childhood mansion that has now become dilapidated.
The player’s objective is pretty straightforward and simple. Here is how it goes: Your job as a player is to help Austin restore the mansion to its past glory by completing several tasks like decorating rooms, fixing furniture etc. after successfully solving the match-3 puzzle.
As you progress along, players meet interesting characters including Austin’s parents.The story continues to unfold via a series of dialogue -driven cut scenes which significantly improves the game’s emotional appeal that keeps you hooked.
Gameplay
Let’s examine the gameplay of Homescapes. As a first time user, you will notice it follows the match-3 puzzle mechanics that involves swapping adjacent pieces to generate rows or columns when you match at least three signs.
As you continue to play, the match-3 complexity increases. Players earn stars upon completion of successful levels, the stars earned are then used to complete the renovation tasks.
More elements like bombs, rockets etc are added to the puzzles to infuse some level of flavour to the gameplay, making it feel more dynamic.The house renovation part of the game is usually the most interesting aspect of Homescapes.
Each renovation task requires certain number of stars to execute, I find the custom feature that lets you select different styles of item to renovate existing. The player is either deciding on the type of decoration or colour to select.
Graphics
Homescapes has a colourful, vibrant, and detailed design that appears very appealing. When you watch the character animations, you will notice that they play very smoothly which is awesome.
The environment on the other hand were designed with lots of attention to details, each room in the mansion appears to have distinct aesthetics which is awesome.
The choice of colour was carefully thought-out and appeared to be visually appealing to many audience. Little wonder the game grew up to becoming popular.
Progression & Difficulty
Homescapes progression like most level games is at first smooth in the early stages, but as players settle in, they soon become uncomfortable as soon as the difficulty increases. However, the game offers power-ups like bombs and rainbow pieces to assist player’s progress.
For those who find the increased difficulty fun enough, they can as well measure up to the task and walk their way to victory while completing the mansion renovation. Players can also explore in-app purchases as another alternative to surpass the difficult levels.
Social & Event Features
To make Homescapes even more engaging, additional features that would allow players do more social activities like connecting to their facebook account to share their progress and see friend’s progress or even compete on the leaderboard were added.
These helped better players gaming experience especially for those who like to compete. Additionally, Homescapes provided limited events for playes to earn special rewards and also participate in unique challenges, giving players more reasons to keep coming back.
Controls
The controls are pretty straightforward even during my first-time playing, I found the tutorial prompt helpful in settling in as a new player. Navigation around the app was easy; the swipe on the match-3 puzzles was smooth and responsive. There is hardly any form of missteps or glitches.
Final Thoughts
Homescapes is for sure a great game in my opinion, it appears to have done so well in the match-3 genre. The desire of wanting to renovate the mansion is more than enough to keep you hooked. I must say, it’s can be addictive.
The interesting thing about this game is it’s brilliant approach deployed by it’s creator in striking a balance between the match-3 gameplay, storytelling and renovation. It is quite enjoyable to play and progress.
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