Pizza Deliciozo from Xing Interactive is an interesting combination of match-3 puzzling and time management.  The game sees you running a restaurant and serving various pizzas to your customers.  However, you can only make a pizza by making sure that you clear the relevant ingredient titles on the board in stacks of three or above.  So, for example, one pizza might require three cheese titles, five ham tiles and three ketchup tiles.  Unlike many match-3 puzzlers, where you swap one tile with another in order to create rows of three or more, Pizza Deliciozo takes a somewhat different approach.  Instead of moving one tile, you actually command four tiles at a time and need to rotate them into position to form bunches of three or more.  The good news is that the tiles do not have to be in a straight line, as long as all connect.  So, four tiles in an ‘L’ shape is perfectly acceptable.

Rotating four blocks in order to clear ingredients is not as inflexible as it sounds.  It is actually possible to move a tile from the bottom of the board to the top in this way by changing the four blocks you have selected and then moving the tile from bottom to top, bottom to top over and over.  It can be time-consuming and a little frustrating at times but it’s a necessary evil if you want to get all those pesky ingredients.  Other bonuses such as tiles with extra payments attached and tiles which clear a whole row can be very useful in helping you get through the levels.

Once you’ve cleared the required ingredients for a pizza it is automatically assembled.  You then need to click the pizza to send it out to the customer and then click to collect payment once the customer leaves.  If you don’t collect payment it prevents another customer coming in and taking up the empty seat.  In typical time-management fashion, you only receive a small amount of time in each level to fire out as many pizzas as possible and can receive a bronze, silver or gold rating depending on how efficient you are.  Customers also have a satisfaction rating so should not be kept waiting for too long.  You can serve them treats if they begin to lose patience and you can also serve coffee in order to increase the amount of the bill. 

During the game a range of pizzas become available to buy using coins earned each level.  These pizzas require an increasing range of ingredients and can bring in more income but can also be more challenging.  Additional extras such as upgrades to the coffee machine and extra treats can also be purchased to help you keep your customers sweet.  Although it has the potential to become repetitive, the addictiveness of match-3 puzzling apparently knows no bounds.  I played through several levels at a time and found it continued to be engaging.  It’s true it isn’t the sort of game you could necessarily play for particularly long stretches; however, in short bursts it’s very entertaining.

Comprising of dozens of levels, Pizza Delicioso offers many hours of gameplay for the lowly price of €9.95.  The graphics may be fairly basic but it offers a different concept and good value entertainment that anyone can enjoy.  Match-3 puzzling continues to be very popular and a game that not just builds on this format but actually tries to enhance it can only be applauded.

**Review by Donna Haw**