Game Review: Legend of Solgard (Mobile – Free to Play)

From the makers of Candy Crush Saga comes the next big thing in mobile gaming (apparently). This is Legend of Solgard, a mix of the “match 3” puzzle style we are all very familiar with and RPG styled battling.

This review is specific to version 1.0.3

King made their name with possibly the most popular mobile/app games ever made. The horrid, but addictive Candy Crush Saga. You know, that game that every one of your Facebook friends would keep inviting you too constantly? It spawned multiple variations. Candy Crush Jelly Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga and Pet Rescue Saga, to name a few. Now King try their hand at something different. Or do they, is Legend of Solgard a whole new game, new concept, new idea or is this just the same old match 3 puzzle game in a different skin?

So, the concept behind Legend of Solgard is to gather creatures, bring them in to battle with you and attack an enemy in turn based, RPG styled battling. You fight by lining those monsters up in rows of 3 or more, waiting for your turn then watching as your army darts forward and attacks your enemy. Sounds good right? To be fair it is pretty decent.

You start off with a single available slot and a monster though as you progress you can unlock up to 4 slots. This allows you to build a team of monsters to take on to the battlefield with you. Monsters can be upgraded to add power and quicker turns and of course there are a huge amount of monsters to unlock. Unlocking them is done by winning battles. When you win, you receive bonus items which include gems. Each monster is locked in a case that requires a certain amount of gems before it can be unlocked. Keep winning battles and hope you win the right gems for the monster you want. Unfortunately it is random so you can’t just target a specific monster you want this way.

More powerful monsters become available as you progress and winning battles then means you can get different gems to hopefully unlock some new ones and form a powerful team to bring on to the battlefield with you. Upgrading your monsters comes by spending gold coins. Like the gems, gold coins can be earned by winning battles but they do come slowly this way. There are a few other bonus ways to get gold coins too. Every 4 hours a bonus chest is gifted to you which will give you some additional coins and gems. There are also daily challenges and weekly challenges to complete which give you a handful of coins as well.

If you really want to get ahead though, you can buy additional gold coins. To buy gold, you first need to buy diamonds. This is where the real money comes in. You can buy diamonds in different amounts from 200 (for £1.99) all the way up to 14500 (for £99.99). You can then use these diamonds to buy gold in a few different formats. 60 diamonds nets you 600 gold. 4500 diamonds nets you 60000 gold. To give you an indication of how much you might end up spending, I currently have a Grinchop monster that needs 6 more gems out of the 20 required to unlock it. If I wanted to unlock it now with coins, it would cost me 300 gold coins which equates to around £2.97 for that monster. It also costs 50 diamonds to get a continue if you happen to be defeated in game.

It is the sort of game where the spending could rack up pretty quickly. Especially as there are 30 monsters to collect in total. Having said that, so far I have not spent anything and have not found it to detract from the game at all. Yes, some levels are more of a challenge then they would be with some high level monsters but that is part of the fun.

Other bits of interest are the option to join or create a guild. Being in a guild will see your stats get a little buff providing you donate gold to the guild’s cause. You also get a changing daily log in bonus. Sometimes some gold, sometimes some random gems. There are also no ads to worry about.

Visually, the game is clean and crisp with bright, colourful characters and smooth animation. The music is what it is, basic sound effects during battle and grander music at other times. With so much going on in the game, it definitely feels and looks cluttered on a mobile screen but that is a minor complaint really.

With no ads in site, at least not yet, Legend of Solgard, is a fun and clever take on “match 3” puzzle games. The RPG elements are not just in the sales pitch and there is a touch of classic gaming spirit in there. King have done a great job creating a brand new IP away from their famed Candy Crush Saga. Legend of Solgard is jam packed full of content, is fun to play and is hard to put down. The only real negative is how cluttered and busy the screen looks. Why they didn’t stick a few bit sunder a menu button, I don’t know.