Grindstone

Compelling to a fault, with a hypnotic and exhilarating central conceit, Grindstone is a tiny bit special. Hopefully, it won't be dismissed by players for being a mobile port, or being mistaken for a "match-three" game akin to Candy Crush – it's not. A full-featured, elegantly designed experience, Capybara's action-puzzle-tactics game is a tiny marvel and we'd strongly recommend it to any and all Switch owners. Ever-so-slight resource exhaustion is the only thing letting it down, but it's easily forgiven when smashing seven shades of shawarma out of creeps is so flipping fun. We say it's time to reverse that well-worn idiom and put your yes to the Grindstone.

Grindstone is a puzzle classic, and Capybara Games have ensured that its transition to PS5 is flawless.

Grindstone is one of the most addictive games I have played this year. A beautiful presentation melded with a rewarding, visceral gameplay loop makes you not want to put it down. Grindstone is a bright, Saturday morning cartoon where you can meet weird people, and chop up endles amount of cute characters, what's not to like? I cannot recommend it enough, Grindstone is brilliant.

Grindstone‘s premise is simple in the best way possible: this is the sort of puzzle game that really gets its claws into you and doesn’t let go. Getting a high score in a daily challenge is a thrill, and getting a record-breaking chain is oh-so-satisfying. It helps that it looks fantastic, too, with a sumptuous hand-drawn art style. If you’re after a casual puzzle game with some substance, you really can’t get any better than this. Just prepare yourself to be unable to put it down.

"Grind puzzle levels instead of gears."

Announced and then immediately released in December’s Indie World Showcase, Grindstone immediately piqued my interest. With its colourful art style and combo-puzzling, is this a game worth climbing up Grindstone mountain for? Find out in my Rapid Review.

If you’re into its visual style and addictive, puzzling experiences then Grindstone stands with the best of ‘em.

Candy Crush essentially created the formula that Grindstone and so many others follow. It is just something that needs to be noted before walking into it though.

A puzzling masterpiece, Grindstone is easy to learn but hard to master. With a ridiculous amount of content and varied gameplay, Grindstone is the total package.

Grindstone is a simple dungeon crawler bursting with charm and instant gratification. The short, engaging gameplay loop is good enough to never get boring, no matter how many times I went through it. It’s effective, fun and addictive and has found the perfect portable home on the Nintendo Switch.