MESA – The New iOS Game That is Totally Addicting

Editor’s Note: For the sake of disclosure, the author of this piece was requested to review this product by someone they had previously known prior to playing this game. While it has been determined that their relationship was not founded by friendship, nor through working together, I have decided to retract the final score and let you, the reader, decide the review’s merit with disclosure at hand. Thank you.

There are millions of iOS games and seemingly endless amounts of new ones popping up in the App store so it is increasingly difficult to find the diamonds in the rough.  Well let me tell you, I have found one!  MESA is a gripping game of strategy from the Indie development company Forest Giant.

MESA is a beautifully designed, head-to-head game where you select different tiles to make a match that garners you a power which will help destroy your opponent.  Both players start with 100 points and as you play the game your attacks reduce your opponents total.  The first player to take all their enemies points away is the winner.  Sounds easy?  Well, not all tiles are equal, resulting in different offense and defensive strategies.  The key below illustrates the different tiles and the powers associated with each one.  Matching three tiles of the same color takes those points away from your opponent, but you also earns you the power that can disrupt your enemies strategy.

The game is totally free so there is no reason you shouldn’t give it a try.  There are three optional in-app purchase opportunities.  Each one unlocking two extra level boards to increase both strategy and difficulty.  The in-app purchases are US$1.99 each.

If I had to express any issue with MESA, it would be the absence of a single-player campaign.  I, like so many others, really enjoy the ability to play a game at my pace.  Free from the constraints of waiting for their opponent to finish doing whatever else it is that they are doing before returning to a match.  I have my fingers crossed that Forest Giant will perhaps release an update containing a single-player campaign in the future.  Until then, the game is fantastic, and my complaint is rather selfish because I just don’t want to stop playing.

Bravo Forest Giant for creating such an addictive and compelling game.  The game is so popular that within the first week it had already been in the “Featured Game” section of the App Store.

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