Gamezebo Rating:

Cavemania is the long-awaited result of what happens when developer BonusXP partners up with publisher Yodo1 to release Yodo1's very first global game: and let me tell you, this thing is more exciting than the discovery of fire. The bulk of Cavemania is played out on a simple match-three game board, which is filled in from top to bottom with colorful items that cavemen would normally find out in the wild and harvest for their precious resources: apples and carrots; leafy trees and pine trees; rocks and gold ore. Matching three or more of each item will net you a nice share of their respective resource, which you'll need for reaching the goal in some levels, or to put towards building things in others.

But now here's the big twist that sets Cavemania apart from other match-three adventures just like it: your Chieftan character also occupies a space on this changing game board, and you'll need to utilize his position in order to do battle or protect delicate structures from meeting their end in the harsh realities of nature. What's cool about this is that you're always able to make any move on the board that you want, and permanently swap any two items regardless of whether they make a match or not.

This heightens the overall strategy of the game to exciting new levels: for instance, you might opt out of farming new resources for a few moves, if the current situation calls for you to move you Chieftan into fighting position with the deadly beasts and wildlife that also populate the game board from time to time; or conversely, you might want to move an injured Chieftan away from any harm until you can better gather your bearings. Your characters will automatically attack an enemy whenever they are in close range (one square away, either adjacent or diagonally), but be careful because the enemies will also be able to do exactly the same! Luckily, matching four or more like-items in a single move will reward you with a rare blue crystal, which can then be used at will to unleash a particularly devastating attack on your unsuspecting foes.