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Following the release of "The Chronicles of Confucius's Journey", eFunsoft has turned its focus on to a biblical epic with "The Chronicles of Moses and the Exodus".  In both cases, these two titles belong to the popular Match-3 genre of game play.  In fact these two titles follow an almost identical pattern in their gaming format and the way they are presented to the gamer.

Profiles can be created so that different players can take part in the game and have their progress recorded as they dip into this story of biblical proportions whenever the mood takes them.  Some alterations can be made to the gaming environment to suit individual tastes.  Apart from the dramatic opening scene of Moses turning back the Red Sea to an audio accompaniment, you can adjust the audio levels used for sound effects and background music.  There are also options to play the game in full scene mode and gain some assistance from a tutorial feature.

Moses and the Exodus is spread over five chapters that cover different aspects of this story.  You start with the Exile Prince and then need to work through events entitled Plagues, Freedom, Exodus and come to the conclusion of God's Command.  In each case you can earn and build up a supply of resources that are then required to watch sequences dealing with four parts of the main story during each chapter. 

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This is the one aspect of the game that is different from the earlier Confucius offering.  Rather than create upgrades to the basic scenery, you have the option to view so-called video sequences.  These sequences consist of two characters, from the story, being superimposed on the current background and conducting a conversation in text format only.  The two displayed characters are totally static and would certainly benefit from some movement even if it was just out-of-synch lip movement.  Fortunately you can skip these sequences as they add nothing of real importance to the game other than possibly giving you a short break from a steady diet of Match-3 action.

As with the Confucius offering, the Match-3 action facing Moses has been transferred "lock, stock and barrel" with just the various symbols being charged to suit the story line.  The actual layout and format of Match-3 game play remains identical as each level of the game consists of a grid filled with embossed tiles and areas that have a golden inlay.  The grid is superimposed on a suitable background image and contains the challenge of tiles to be removed for that level. 

To the right of the grid is a list of the different elements already collected while on the left of the grid are the power-ups that can be used to complete the various grids.  These power-ups consist of a hammer, Egyptian bracelet, Moses' staff, shepherd's staff, crucible and stone tablets.  Depending which power-up is available and selected, you can destroy anything from a single cell up to a large area.

The object of each level is to achieve the set challenge mentioned earlier.  This challenge could involve the removal of the golden inlay and specific symbol-bearing tiles.  The task is achieved by the removal of tiles brought about by the creation of groups made up of three or more similarly embellished tiles.  You create groups by swapping two adjacent tiles.  The group of tiles then disappear causing other tiles to fall downwards to fill the gap.  This can cause a cascading effect as more groups are created thus adding to the elements already collected.

Adding to the degree of difficulty of completing the various grids and levels are a number of blocking elements.  Occasionally a cell in the grid will contain a plate other than an embellished tile so blocking a possible group.  Some tiles will be initially locked by a single or double strain of chains that would need to be cleared away by being included in groups.  Other tiles could constantly change their embellishment until clicked on.  By timing the click you could get the type of tile you need to create a group.  You also need to be aware of wandering spiders who can block tiles by spinning webs over them.  Spider webs can be removed by being included in a group.

As you progress through the game and its various levels, there is a steady increase in the difficulty level encountered in each grid.  Despite the similarity between the Moses and Confucius titles, I felt the Confucius title was a more enjoyable experience.  I downloaded my copy of the game from Gamehouse.com where it is available for $9.99.  Game specification call for a 1.0 GHz processor with 512MB of RAM and 105MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

http://www.gamehouse.com/download-games/the-chronicles-of-moses-and-the-exodus