Shariki
Shariki (Russian: Ша́рики, "The Balls") is a puzzle game written in 1988 by Russian developer Eugene Alemzhin and later developed for MS-DOS in 1994. The goal of the game is to gain progressively higher scores by matching three or more balls of the same color in a line (vertical or horizontal), by swapping adjacent balls. Each swap must result in a match. Matched balls are then removed, and new ones drop from the top to fill the gaps. The game is over when no more matches are possible in the game field.
| Developer(s) | Eugene Alemzhin |
|---|---|
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Windows |
| Release | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Clones
Shariki proved to be a very influential game and eventually many games that closely matched its mechanics arose.[1] Collectively known as match-three games, these all revolve around the mechanic of creating a three-in-a-row line of identical pieces. They include:
- Bejeweled (2001) by PopCap Games
- Jewel Quest (2004) created and published by iWin
- Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (2007) developed by Infinite Interactive and published by D3 Publisher
- Aurora Feint (2008) game for the iPhone and iPod Touch
- Candy Crush Saga (2012)
- Pokémon Shuffle (2015) game for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console
References
- "Shariki on Casual Games Wiki". Archived from the original on 2010-01-12. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
External links
- Article Shariki: The Predecessor of Bejeweled and Puzzle Quest
- Museum of Shariki games (in Russian)