D.N.A.

Review by MrLipid
February 2007

Less Is More

I am a big fan of casual games. It takes a special type of genius to come up with an easy-to-learn game that rewards hours of play. Given how much fun I've had playing D.N.A., I would have to say that the folks at 5th Cell Media are geniuses of that special type. Here's how they describe what they've done: "D.N.A. is about joining different colors together to cause chain reactions. Your goal is to make chains of 10 or larger that cause cells to burst. It's that simple!"

Sounds like another match-three game, right? Not quite. The different colored proteins are blue, yellow, and red. Rather than matching all of the red, yellow, or blue fragments, one must join blue and yellow to produce green cells, blue and red to produce purple cells, and red and yellow to produce orange cells. Nor is it one-to-one matching. A single blue protein can link with 10 (or more) yellow proteins to produce 10 (or more) green cells, at which point the cell bursts, sending its contents to the green container at the bottom of the screen. The goal is to burst enough green, purple, and orange cells to fill the containers. While this variation on match-three play mechanics may seem modest, the effect on play is substantial, making D.N.A. a welcome addition to the roster of casual games that have earned permanent status on my hard drive.

Our Story So Far ...

The story, such as it is, is as simple as the play mechanic: "Help biologist Dr. Rose Thompson [who sports a strong anime look] with her experiments in the creation and preservation of new species of flowers! Combine different combinations of free-floating proteins and cells to cause chain reactions, which will help grow all kinds of amazing flowers. Make sure she fills her daily quota before time runs out."

Contemplate This!

Or skip the Story mode for Eternal mode, wherein one produces cells with no time pressure. Very relaxing. Or try Puzzle mode. Puzzle mode poses 24 challenges that can only be overcome by becoming very familiar with precisely how the game works. If, for example, I combine the yellow and the blue on one end of a string of fragments, will I be able to clear the screen by linking the newly formed green cell to other fragments? Tougher than it sounds. Both Puzzle and Eternal mode encourage contemplation. Sit quietly long enough in Eternal mode (or simply wander off for a while to run errands), and the screen will eventually fill with blue, yellow, and red fragments. The length of chains that can be produced once the screen is full is impressive.

Sounds Good

The game features an engaging soundtrack and an encouraging British narrator who rewards the formation of lengthy chains with enthusiastic exclamations of "Nice!" "Excellent!" "Great!" or "Fantastic!" The same narrator offers comments like "Purple (or Green or Orange) Needed," though such advice can apparently be ignored without any ill effects.

New Around Here?

As one plays, different types of cells appear spontaneously, each producing a unique effect. Some cells will clear the screen of DNA fragments of a particular DNA color, while others slow down the game action to allow additional chains to be formed to produce larger cells. Some cells can change colors at the request of the player to help form chains, and some cells will explode, adding fragments of all colors to the screen to simplify forming chains.

Verdict

The overall presentation of D.N.A. is very clean and inviting. Jump in, play, jump out, come back later. I'm giving it a strong Thumb Up! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some more work to do in the lab. 

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: 5th Cell Media LLC
Publisher: Merscom
Release Date: October 2006

Available for:

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Player Feedback

Screenshots

System Requirements

Windows ME/2000/XP
700 MHz Intel Pentium III or equivalent processor (1.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent recommended)
128 MB system RAM (256 MB recommended)
16 MB DirectX 7.0 compatible video card (ATI Radeon or GeForce 2, 32 MB RAM or higher recommended)
4x CD-ROM drive
20 MB free hard disk space (50 MB recommended)
DirectX 7.0 compatible sound card (DirectX 8.1 compatible recommended)
Keyboard, mouse

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