Match-3 games are probably the purest out there, at least in terms of genre. They are so instantly understandable by pretty much anyone, no wonder there’s a seemingly infinite number of them available on our phones. The issue is that most of them can’t match up to the heights of a classic like Bejeweled, though at least every once in a while we get delightful spins on the genre like Spirit Swap. Now, there’s a new, quite tiny new kid on the block in the form of Sinister Sodies, a match-3 game where you set out to “purify your carbonated concoction before time runs out.”
Sinister Sodies has the usual thing you’ll find in a match-3 game, i.e. different coloured tiles you have to match up. The particular spin here is that rather than like in other games in the genre where you might move a tile to get a match, you have to box specific combinations of three tiles in by drawing a four-cornered box.
Announcing my latest game, Sinister Sodies! A bite-sized, fast-paced arcade puzzle game where you box in colorful Frooblies to purify your carbonated concoction, all to win the love of your evil overlord! Grab it on Steam today!
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— Crisppyboat (@crisppyboat.ca) June 18, 2025 at 5:12 PM
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It sounds simple enough, but there’s a fast-paced time limit, so in the first instance you have to find a spot that includes your three target tiles before you can even match them up. This gets complicated by things like tiles that explode if you draw a line through them, more and more of said tiles appearing as you make matches.
I really like this little twist on the genre, there’s a snappiness to it thanks to the timer that really helps it to feel satisfying when you just manage to make a match. Not enough to make you want to play it for hours on end, but I can see myself coming back to this for five minutes pop when I need a break from writing about the latest Fortnite update or whatever it is games journalists do these days.
I think the thing I’m most fond of is the presentation. It all looks like a piece of claymation, rendered in artist Crisppyboat’s own signature style. I feel like it’s a game that would have fit very well on Cartoon Network’s Flash games site back when that was still a thing. Real “killing time on the family computer while your mum is getting ready for the school run” kind of vibe in the most positive of ways possible.
Anyway, it’s already out on Steam and itch.io, and it’s cheap as chips, so you’ve not got much of an excuse to not get it honestly.
