As casual games become increasingly popular it gets hard to find the difference between the good ones and the bad ones just thrown together to make a quick buck. Luckily I got the chance to play one of the better casual games on PC, StoneLoops! of Jurassica. The guys at Codeminion in Poland have put together a nice, fun and challenging little game that was as entertaining as it was addictive.

StoneLoops combines a puzzler and arcade game together in the prehistoric world of Jurassica. As coloured boulders are pushed around a track, players grab a boulder and shoot it to a group of similar-coloured boulders of similar colour before they reach the end of the track. Putting them in groups of three or more will make the boulders pop and score you points! Gain enough points and you move onto the next level while unlocking a few things along the way.

Sounds easy? Well it actually gets more and more challenging as you go through. New maps have various tricks and turns to make it a little harder to get the boulders you want as well as new tunnels and overpasses that hide them for a little while. Getting through the stages by clearing all the boulders on the track will give you a bonus in points and more gems to be launched in a gem catcher mini game at the end of each level. This mini game gets more points for your score and helps you unlock trophies and upgrades for your house.

Combining different colours will create a chain effect that yields more points and helps you complete levels faster. It is a great way to get through the level as well as racking up some extra points. While you play through the levels, there are nine power ups to help you along the way. These can be as annoying as they are helpful. At one time I was looking set to have a nice chain reaction and accidentally picked up the spear power-up, allowing players to shoot out single boulders, and unfortunately lost my nice chain and was left with a rock in the catapult.

While I worked out that shooting the spear off into the corner was a nice way around this, it was annoying to waste a power-up. The others are all pretty different and interesting. While the big ones like the Meteor, Pteranodon and Fireball are helpful to clear out large areas, the Spear and the Storm can fix up little areas, and there is also a Stop power-up to hold the boulders in place, Colour Cloud to create one colour in an area, Boost to add more points to your progress bar and Multicolour to mix it up a little. They aren't necessarily needed, but they add a new element into the game and make it easier to get through some of the tricky levels.

While there are some nice incentives to keep playing, there are 75 different levels to keep you guessing. These are spread out over five lands, with different houses and upgrades for each. While there are 24 trophies you can unlock there is also alternative modes to play, just in case you finish the story mode and feel there is nothing more for you there.

Strategy mode allows you to take it slow. After each move you have a chance to consider your next move. It allows for a slower more strategic game play while still providing some challenge. However it was the Survival mode that got my attention. Choose a level and try to survive as the difficulty and speed increase. Pretty typical of a survival game but it was a nice change from the story mode and was great to play something quickly.

The music and sounds are a little repetitive but fit in well within the game. The voice styles and concepts of the game fit in well and let you get into the idea of the game more. Games are fairly quick and this is where the other modes shine. Go back and play that one level you enjoyed at any time, or if you only have 10 minutes to spare.


Stoneloops is fun, addictive, cheap and an interesting idea that makes for a nice little casual game. It has a lot of things to keep players going and kids will like the colour exercises and style of the game, as well as it being good for hand eye coordination to boot. But that's just it - a casual game. It won't be for everyone. While there is a demo to play for up to an hour for free, the full version is cheap to buy if you find it as addictive as I did.