Chuzzle

Chuzzle is a Video Game from Pop Cap Games for both regular computers and the iPhone. It’s a variant on the Match Three Game where the player lines up groups of 3 or more like-colored Chuzzles to clear them from the board. What makes the game unique is that, rather than flip-flopping or turning the individual Chuzzles to make matches, the player drags an entire row or column to align the Chuzzles. Thus, any combination of Chuzzles will remove them from the board as long as at least one is adjacent to another.

Clearing out a 2 x 2 block of Chuzzles will drop a Fat Chuzzle onto the board; they take up a 2 x 2 space and move two rows/columns at once when you move them. Clearing out 5 or more Chuzzles at once will leave behind a Super Chuzzle which will blow up when matched and clear out a 3 x 3 area, along with any Fat Chuzzles which might be in the chain. Clearing 6 or more Chuzzles at once will net you extra points and move you through the level faster.

As you progress, the game will start randomly locking Chuzzles to increase the difficulty; once a Chuzzle is locked, you can’t move its row or column until you make a match with it. If you run out of moves, you get two chances to scramble the board, which also removes all the locks. Additional scrambles can be earned at certain point levels.

There are four main game types:

• Classic – The main game, with two variants:

Casual - Locks don't start showing up until level 3 or 4, and Chuzzles will give you hints. You also get 1000x(level #) bonus points at the end of a level.

Expert - The level-end point bonuses double; locks start coming as early as the first level; and the Chuzzles don't give hints.

• Speed – Like Classic, but you only have a set amount of time to make a move before a Chuzzle gets locked.
• Zen – An Endless Game, mainly for time-killing.
• Puzzle – Arranging Chuzzles to fit color patterns.

Tropes used in Chuzzle include:

• Casual Video Game
  • Match Three Game
• Catching Some Zs: If you leave the game alone long enough, the Chuzzles will start falling asleep one by one, complete with Zs.
• Cephalothorax: The Chuzzle's heads are their bodies.
• Cool Shades: In the PC version, some Chuzzles will show up wearing huge sunglasses.
• Gasshole: If you click on a Fat Chuzzle enough times, it will let out an enormous belch (see the page pic).
• Letting the Air Out of the Band: When you run out of moves and scrambles, the background music slows to a halt.
• Notice This: If you're playing the Casual version of the Classic game and can't find a move, just wait a bit and a Chuzzle that can be played will roll its eyes. Let it sit even longer and the Chuzzle will twitch and roll its eyes. This keeps you from having to use the Hint button since that takes away from your level progress.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Chuzzles themself.
• Stat Meters: The eyes of popped Chuzzles fly into the big flask and fill it as you progress through a level, then pop out in a rush when you complete the level. While they're doing this, they emit a sound that's reminiscent of how another game's disembodied eyes sounded when they moved...
• Video Game Cruelty Potential:
  • Clicking/tapping repeatedly on a Chuzzle will tickle it, then make it cough, then sneeze, then let out a huge sneeze that blows its fur off for a couple of seconds.
  • Moving a row or column back and forth rapidly will dizzy its Chuzzles. Shaking your phone will do this as well, to the whole board.
  • If you leave a cursor on a Chuzzle for too long, it'll get mad and shake it off.