Wizdom Review – A Nice Break from the BIG Games Out There

If Diner Dash and a match 3 puzzle game had a baby, it would be Wizdom. Learning to make potions is a ton of fun within the game’s wonderful world, that game is somewhat addicting, and it should keep you on your toes. The concept is fairly simple: you make potions for your customers within the time allotted in order to earn enough stars/points to progress to the next level. While the concept is familiar, it is the execution that keeps you playing.

Making different potions is easy at first, as you have different colored materials that are called blobs. To create a potion you need to gather these blobs first. How do you do that you ask? Well, that is where the puzzle aspect of Wizdom comes in. You must match three blocks of the same colors to create a material. The game utilizes both the top and bottom screen of your 3DS as are you try to match the blobs vertically, horizontally, or in an L-shape. After you have collected enough of the right blobs and materials you will need to switch to the matching grid in order to deliver the right potion to the right customer.

There is a time management aspect to Wizdom. The longer you take to get things done the quicker your customers start to become angry, which in turn lowers your overall customer satisfaction score. If your score drops too low, you lose and have to start over. This is where the game can become a lot of fun, especially for puzzle and multi-tasking fans, as you have so many things on the go at once. You have to create the ingredients for the potions each customer wants, create the actual potion, and deliver it to the customer. All this occurs as the clock runs and customers continue to show up all the time. During your ‘adventure’ you can also unlock “legendary pets” which has a bit of addictiveness to it as well.

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“Overall, if you enjoy puzzle or time management games, this is a pretty fun one as it is very easy to pick up and play and it is definitely the type of game you come to when you have a bit of free time.”

There is a little bit of a story, just enough to get the ball going in the game as a whole. You are an apprentice in Potionland (I know, not too original of a name) who accidently turns your master into a mushroom type monster. In order to change him back, you have to travel to four different worlds so that you can master your potion making skills and turn him back to what he once was. What starts off as a simple task escalates to a level where the combinations can start to get quite complex, so don’t let the cute and bright colors fool you, this game can become a challenge quickly.

In regards to the game’s presentation, the visuals are bright and colorful with each character and blob being animated in an adorable cartoonish way. They add a sort of charm to the game, as it seems quirky. You also have the ability to custom create your character, which is a nice touch. That being said, this game does not take full advantage of the 3DS’s visual capability, however you are able to post things and the 3D mode can be enabled but that is about it. As for the sound, like the visuals it too is cute and quirky. There is lots of woos and waahoo’ing from the in game puzzle characters and the game’s music is just right. In the end everything here gets the job done.

Overall, if you enjoy puzzle or time management games, this is a pretty fun one as it is very easy to pick up and play and it is definitely the type of game you come to when you have a bit of free time. Personally, I found myself coming back again and again just for a break from the BIG holiday titles, because sometimes you want to play a game but do not want to play a long campaign. If you just want something cute and fun, but with some added challenge, although Wizdom isn’t a triple ‘A’ hit, it fits this bill and can be a fun diversion when needed.

***Reviewed on the 3DS with a code provided by the publisher***