Almendra Pop

Almendra Pop is a tap-and-match game built around a single rule that keeps changing. A banner at the top of the screen shows one roasted-almond shade — the shade wanted at that moment. Mixed almonds in a range of roasted tones rain down the screen while the banner holds its current colour. The aim is to tap only the almonds that match the shade shown on the banner, and to do so before they fall past the bottom edge. Almonds in any other shade are left alone; they are not the ones wanted right now, so they fall away untouched. The challenge comes from reading each almond against the banner quickly as the pieces drop. What holds the game together is the way the wanted shade keeps switching. The banner moves from one roasted-almond tone to another, so the colour that was correct a moment ago becomes one to ignore, and a tone that was being left alone becomes the one to catch. The sorting has to shift along with the banner as the almonds continue to fall. Almendra Pop is arranged across 20 levels. Each level presents the same core of a changing banner and a stream of mixed almonds, with the pace and the mixture of shades giving the later stages their own character. The focus throughout stays on matching the falling almonds to the shade the banner is asking for at that instant. The game is centred on one clear task — watch the banner, match the shade, and let the rest drop — repeated through shifting conditions from the first level to the twentieth.

Almendra Pop