Pac-Man Monsters quests onto Android

The worlds first gaming star Pac-Man sure gets around. Hes appeared in arcade games, racing games, platformers, an adventure game, and more than a few puzzlers. Now Pac-Man is back in another puzzle game called Pac-Man Monsters from Japanese publisher GREE and Namco Bandai. Its free to play with in-app purchases.

Pac-Man Monsters isnt just a puzzle game. Its actually a puzzle RPG with monster collecting elements sort of like a mixture of Pac-Man with Puzzle Quest and Pokmon. With great graphics, a fun puzzle mechanic, and lots to do and collect, Pac-Man Monsters is a surprisingly compelling experience on Android.

Turn the monsters back

As a puzzle-RPG, Pac-Man Monsters needs some kind of story. And so it has one. In this games continuity, the Pacs and ghosts live happily in Pac-Land along with many other creatures. Then a dark force invades the kingdom. Only a hero like Pac-Man can step in and lead the residents of Pac-Land against their aggressors.

The setup translates into a cool system in which players form a team of Pacs and monsters to do battle against other monster teams. There are more than 100 unique monsters, which you collect by summoning them with soft and hard currency or evolving them from other monsters. They all look great thanks to an attractive Japanese art style.

Puzzle battles

Although previous Pac-puzzle games have been less than exciting, Pac-Man Monsters actually has a really good puzzle engine. At the top of the screen youll see your team on the left and the enemy team on the right. At the bottom sits the puzzle field standard stuff so far.

The puzzle field consists of pellets with various colored backgrounds. Each of these colors represents an element embodied by friendly and unfriendly monsters. Every element is strong and weak against another, creating a paper-rock-scissors mechanic when damage is calculated.

During your turn, you draw a line between 12 dots or spaces. Pac-Man himself then eats the dots, which get converted into damage for your monsters to deal. Power pellets, ghosts, and fruits occasionally show up in the puzzle field as well. Eat a power pellet before chomping a ghost and youll gain both a damage bonus and money for your troubles. Fruits heal your party. Monsters also have special moves activated by eating unique items on the field.

Quests

The world map contains various locations for Pac and his party to visit. Each location offers a series of quests to complete. These consist of a series of battles, often punctuated by a boss fight. Special bosses pop up during quests as well, which you can choose to fight in order to earn extra money and items. The money earned in quests can be spent on summoning monsters, whereas the items seem to be mostly used as ingredients during the evolution process.

In addition to regular quests, the game also offers limited time special quests. Completing these quests gives players the chance to earn unique monsters and items. The current special quest Pac-Man Vs. Galaga is a real treat for Namco fans. Your team will battle Galaga-themed enemies while a very peppy techno mix of the Galaga theme plays.

Quests cost stamina to play. This is a fee to play game, remember? Luckily the stamina meter fills up fairly quickly, and your meter increases as you level up too.

Recruit friends to help save Pac-Land!

Whenever you embark on a quest, youre allowed to bring along a guest monster from another players team. These monsters help out in battle just like your own creatures, but you dont get to keep them. You do get the chance to send friend requests to the monsters owner, however. Friends can send items to each other and even team up together.

Need a friend? Send me an invite! Choose Friends from the Menu and then me via Twitter @PaulRAcevedo.

From my brief time playing it, Pac-Man Monsters seems to be an engrossing puzzle-RPG that Pac-Man and Pokmon fans will love. Well be back with a full review soon.

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