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Putting together elements such as looking after a donkey, playing a slot machine, creating portals and restoring a castle with Match-3 game play produces the result of MatchVentures 3 .  This game, produced by Placadamy, casts you in the role of an itinerant traveller.  You are set various tasks that can be completed by playing Match-3 grids that are often linked together into groups.

Prior to entering the magical land of Crimson Valley and joining up with your friendly guide, who is the last Leprechaun called Finlea, you can create profiles for individual players identified with a choice from a supply of headshots.  Adjustments can be made to the playing environment as you set the audio levels for background music, sound effects and voice dialogue.  You can also view the action in full screen mode with or without any animation.  The game can be played in either Normal or Relaxed playing mode.

Centred around Match-3 action, you need to clear a supply of grids from any golden areas and any other obstacles such as temporary blockages and special items.  Your objective will be to earn gold which can be used to add to and repair any structures within the valley.  Initially you will be faced by a  single grid to be completed in order to receive a reward. 

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However later grids will be interconnected into groups which will need to be completed.  Three methods of moving between grids are provided.  As part of the grid clearance procedure, you could find certain items which can unlock pathways so that you are transported to another grid.  Once a pathway has been established then a window in the lower left corner of the screen can be used to switch between available grids.  In some cases a grid will contain a portal which can be activated to link to another grid that has a similar facility to return you to your original location.

With the gold earned from completing grids, there are numerous upgrades, each with their own price point, waiting to be completed.  Displayed in groups of four are 32 upgrades needing to be carried out.  Once the 32 upgrades have been dealt with then you can move on to a couple of other areas and carry out similar duties.  These other areas will have their own set of upgrades which will need to be financed by completing further grids.

While dealing with these additional areas, you should not forget your original work on Crimson Valley.  You will often be called upon to carry out repairs to the first structures that benefitted from upgrades.  These repairs will need to be paid for out of your bank balance.

From time to time you will be faced by a puzzle that will need completing.  You could be asked to draw a magical symbol appearing on the screen by using the mouse or arrange a series of cogs to connect and drive two wheels.  Other puzzles include spotting the differenced between two scenes, completing a nanogram puzzle or setting up pipe segments so that water will flow uninterrupted from a source to a tank.

Just in case you have forgotten that earlier I mentioned a donkey and slot machine, they do have a part to play.  The donkey will need to be fed, watered and looked after as it carries your tools and other equipment.  Looking after the donkey will need to be paid for with gems earned with completing certain tasks.  The slot machine can be used with a free spin to reward you with gems for successful combinations or a small amount of gold for incorrect combinations.

This game will keep you occupied with many hours of entertaining game play.  It is the type of game that could get under your skin without the realising it.  I downloaded by copy of this game from Gamehouse.com where it is available priced at $9.99.  MatchVentures 3 requires a 1.0GHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 383MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

MatchVentures 3 | GameHouse