Chains looks and plays good, with a fresh set of graphics and a clever physics engine. It's also cheap (currently it's 3,99€ on Steam) and that's not a bad thing, even if the game is very short.
Played in autumn 2012, this game looks fresh, minimalistic and has a raw gameplay idea that it pushes to the front of the stage, varying the action/puzzle concept throughout 20 challenging levels. I got to level 17 in a couple of days of casual play, or 2.2 hours according to Steam. The game doesn't have achievements or online leaderboards, and that leaves an empty feeling when so many level goals are about time limits or 'ball loss limits'. But the core gameplay is slick and fun. I recommend it at a dollar or maybe two. JoshB, that level becomes easier when you focus on securing a steady stream IN rather than the stream OUT in the bottom of the screen. It doesn't matter if that stream gets clogged up midway through, the important thing is to secure a steady input flow. Another tip would be to set the game to easy mode, as I did :-)
Graphics are dire. If you can get past the first level which is essentially connect 4 then the style and difficulty of the game starts to improve. Fun little puzzler.
This is a nice little collection of physics puzzle games. It's only about 2-3 hours of gameplay with no real replay value; However many of the puzzles will have you wracking your brain to solve so it'll be a few hours of cleaning cobwebs out of your skull.
SummaryChains is a challenging puzzle game with a unique feel and distinctive vector graphics style. The object of the game is simple - to link adjacent bubbles of the same color into chains. As you progress through the physics-driven stages it becomes increasingly more challenging and players' speed, strategy and skill will be put to the test....