Zodiac Tower  - Per Aspera Ad Astra Quest

 

Hidden in the Zodiac Tower, a ship exists that gives people the power to make a long trip to space. But first you need to construct a rocket. To find all mechanisms necessary for it, you have to progress through 107 levels of the astrological tower.

As you start your quest, you'll see that the playing field is divided into two parts.

One part is occupied by a grid. The tiles of this grid are filled with enigmatic symbols, such as white pyramids, cursive M letters etc.

Another part contains Tetris-type shapes. Shapes can be rotated for a successful match.

The task is to find similarly shaped combinations of symbols in the grid that can be matched with Tetris pieces.

Matched tiles disappear from the playing field scoring you points. Mind that some tiles are to be matched several times to disappear.

To break wooden and iron cells, you have to destroy overlapping pieces. Occasionally, stone tiles with faces, shields or sunbursts are added to the playing field. You have to destroy neighboring pieces to break these special boxes and blocks.

To eliminate other squares, you have to delete the highlighting behind them by matching pieces atop them. Once the level is completed, you'll move to the next step of a Zodiac Tower structure.

If you advance through the game, you'll be rewarded with multiple power-ups and bonus shapes.

Power-ups (they seem to be pouring from horn of plenty) can be combined with all shapes regardless of their size. You can match Bonus shapes with any combination of symbols at the board. Other power-ups are bombs that explode 3X3 cells, rockets smashing everything on their way, magnets, chain lightning attacks and a handful of other useful artillery aids. 

As you proceed through levels, try to collect as many coins as possible.

When the sum raised is big enough, you will be able to pop in the between-levels Equipment Shop and exchange earned cash for useful items and power-ups.

Select Arcade or Quest mode to add challenge to your quest. Arcade mode suggests playing through one long level to uncover hidden bonus items.  Quest mode means passing every stage of a magic structure trying to collect all items necessary for Zodiac ship building.

The game stands out of other matching puzzles: adding alltime popular Tetris-inspired motive to the general scheme is a real challenge.

Astrological motive and graphics inspired by the medieval fiction add an unexpected twist to the gameplay, which gives an extraordinary taste to the game.