Star Trek: Wrath of Gems is a mobile match-three from Genera Games. Wrath of Games uses a match-three games to advance the storyline, a lot like the system in Doctor Who: Legacy. Each completed puzzle unlocks the next scene, although completionists can go back to redo puzzles for extra rewards and higher ratings. There’s an Original Series storyline and a Next Generation storyline, so I picked the TNG story, because obviously. The game’s plot moves along with short scenes of dialogue between puzzles. (The TNG dialogue is great, when you read them, you’ll hear Riker’s voice or Worf’s voice in your head.)
It’s hard to add much to a match-three game, since there are already so many games around this mechanic, and so many common twists. The main twist in Star Trek: Wrath of Gems is that in most puzzles, the player and their enemy alternate turns on the same match-three board. So there’s not really the chance to set up long chains or save special gems for epic attacks, since the enemy AI (or opposing player) can steal your moves. But then again, you can access any special gems that your opponent’s moves create. It’s a more reactive, less strategic match-three.
I liked the diplomatic missions best. These match-three puzzles ask players to match specific colors, while making sure they don’t accidentally match the wrong colors. I found this one the most interesting because I had to pay attention and be careful not to make too many awesome chains that would accidentally use the wrong colors.
Different characters have different color-based powerups, just like in Doctor Who: Legacy, and a lot of the game’s fun comes from assembling a Starfleet crew for each mission, even though the possible characters aren’t as wide as the crew members in Star Trek: Timelines. The developers gave me pretty much unlimited virtual currency to play with, which I mostly spent buying mystery packs of Next Generation character cards until I got a Dr. Crusher (No surprise to anyone who knows me.). Players can then spend credits and dilithium crystals on on leveling up and improving their characters. It’s possible to build an all-lady team, like I did in Walking Dead: No Man’s Land, and make a very successful all-lady crew by upgrading characters and choosing coordinating powers.
I absolutely jumped at the chance to write this review for Genera Games, and I’m so happy to be assigned a review of a Star Trek mobile game! This is a sponsored review, containing my honest opinions and reactions to Star Trek: Wrath of Gems.
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