14 DAY TRIAL // 
I usually avoid playing puzzle games on my iPad for fear of addiction. The Puzzle Quest series, my all-time favorite match-3 game, has just gotten serious competition from Beep Games’ Scurvy Scallywags.
However, there’s no surprise here. Scurvy Scallywags has been developed by industry veterans Ron Gilbert and Clayton Kauzlaric.
For those unfamiliar with these names, I’m going to throw in some games that these two fine folks have been working on: The Cave, Monkey Island and Voodoo Vince.
Scurvy Scallywags is a pure match-3 puzzle game that features some RPG elements. When I say RPG elements, I’m talking about character stats, skills, loot, gear and a little bit of story.
I’ve been playing this game for about a week now and already had to start it all over again several times because in this game, you die a lot after a certain level.
In Scurvy Scallywags, you play the role of a pirate who takes on a quest for the legendary Ultimate Sea Shanty artifact, which contains 16 hidden verses describing secret pirate lore.
By RPG standards, this is the main quest of the game, but you’ll be getting dozens of side quests that will reward you with gold upon completion.Gold is very important in Scurvy Scallywags. Aside from being able to purchase and upgrade skills for your character, gold is the only way that you can continue playing when your character dies.
In Scurvy Scallywags, you’ll be fighting battles by matching at least 3 items of the same type. The “swords” are the most important because they are the ones that give your character the power to defeat the enemies randomly appearing on the puzzle board.
If your attack power is smaller than that of your enemy, you will lose 1 health. When you lose all 3 hearts of health, it’s game over unless you pay a certain amount of gold to continue playing with the same character.
If you don’t have enough money to pay, then you won’t be able to continue playing with the same character and you will have to start all over again with a level 1 pirate.The good news is that you will retain all the gear, skills and any upgrades that you have made during your previous quest, so that you can use them with the new character.
The leveling system is decent enough, but aside from Dodge, that really counts, the other stats are not really that rewarding unless you max them out.
Every time you level up, you can add 1 point to Crit, Dodge, Power, Gold and Damage, but I suggest maxing out Dodge first, given the fact it can save you from losing health in fights that otherwise would have been lost.
And then, there are the skills. You have five skill slots that you can fill in with any abilities you find during your travel. Some are unlocked at certain levels, while others cost gold. These skills are extremely useful as they can help your character overcome otherwise impossible challenges.
For example, you can jump your character a few squares in any direction when you get cornered by enemies, or you can damage any monster on the map before attacking. Make sure you check which skills are available for your character and upgrade the ones you believe are most useful.
Gear is another RPG aspect included in the game. Your character can wear hats, helmets, trousers, armors and swords. There are about 100 of items that can be obtained by defeating the enemies in each puzzle game.There are also lots of “heads” that you can use to customize your character, but unlike the previous items I have mentioned earlier, these are not offering any bonuses to your stats.
You can collect them and stash them in your coffers if you don’t want to wear them right away, but you can customize your character the way you want. These items randomly drop after you defeat the bosses in each puzzle game.
Each defeated boss leaves a treasure coffer behind. The reward will be offered to you in the form of a fortune wheel. You can win gold, items, building materials for your ship or … nothing.
All islands that you will visit are randomly generated, which increases the game’s replay value. In order to visit these islands, you will need a ship. There are 9 types of ships that you can use, each giving you various bonuses.
Keep in mind that you do not have access to all 9 ships at once. Some are unlocked at certain levels and require lots of building materials that you can find after defeating bosses in puzzle games.Obviously, given the fact that drops are random, you have to be lucky enough to get all the necessary materials to build another type of ship in the first few hours.
Scurvy Scallywags features 50 GameCenter achievements, so players who are looking to achieve something while playing a game will have their wish fulfilled.
All in all, I had a blast with Scurvy Scallywags and I reckon I’m already addicted to it, even though I get a little bit frustrated that, after certain levels, it becomes very hard and I have to start it all over again with a new character.
Scurvy Scallywags is a must-buy for any match-3 puzzle game fan out there due to its great replay value, low price, funny story and awfully addictive gameplay.
