At heart this is a puzzle game, and yet it looks more open than most. The focus through most of the game is on featuring simple, colorful beach scenes. Turtles are depicted initially as small swirls in the sand, which reveal turtle eggs when rubbed, and turtle shells when tapped repeatedly. The turtles are super cute and iconic, as are their enemies on the beach, such as crabs and birds. The sea is always on the right side of the screen, and your surroundings reflect whatever part of the world you happen to be exploring. Although this is essentially a match-three and sliding-tile game, it doesn't look at all like a game board. It looks like a little beach filled with plants and animals, making it somewhat of a stealth puzzle game. Kids will be immediately drawn to the fun graphics and the simple mechanics that involve moving turtles around with the stylus. There are plenty of nice touches, but not much variety in Save the Turtles. We wanted something to break up the beach action, and we suspect that kids may get a bit tired also. A great addition would have been an editor of some sort, or perhaps a way to personalize the turtles by viewing them outside of the main game. Then again, considering that Save the Turtles is yours for the low, low price of 500 points, there's probably plenty in the package. And, at the end of the day, we'd rather have a modest amount of content that plays great, than a truckload of crappy content.

The premise behind Save the Turtles delivers exactly what it promises, letting you help a bevy of newly hatched turtles find their way into the sea. We liked the fact that the message behind the game is a positive, environmentally friendly one, but it doesn't dumb things down. You'll need to think quickly and use your reflexes in order to Save the Turtles and get them off the beach before the hot noon sun bakes them in their little shells. A handy tutorial helps you understand that each turtle egg must be uncovered and tapped repeatedly to expose the newborn turtles. Once the turtles hatch, you can move them around the beach. Line up three, and a wave washes in and pulls them out to sea. Once the sun comes up, you will have to start watching out for overheating turtles, ladling water from the sea onto those hot shells. You can also count on the cooling effects of incoming waves when you make a match, to offset the hot sun.

Things start to get more complicated as you realize that not all turtle shells are one color. Multiple shells mean more opportunities to match, but as colors become scattered over the beach, you'll need to work harder to make those matches. It isn't like you can just drag a turtle all the way across the beach, anyway. There are rocks jutting out of the sand, and each time a wave washes in, it will expose new terrain that you'll need to navigate. You have to move the turtles in smaller increments, and there are plenty of harmless and harmful objects scattered around the beach. The bar is set relatively low in terms of the challenge level, perfect for younger kids. Most of the enemies aren't really awful, and will usually just deprive you of a single turtle when you make mistakes. As mentioned, some additional gameplay features would have been great, but you definitely get what you pay for.

There is a very gentle learning curve in Save the Turtles, making it easy for gamers of all abilities to jump in and start playing. We wondered early on if there was actually enough meat on the bone, in terms of providing any challenge, but each level introduces some new twist that keeps things interesting. Examples of how the gameplay changes are that you'll find similarly colored shells are spread further out across the beach, forcing you to make multiple moves and avoid enemies. There are also obstacles that crop up along the way, forcing you to change your plan for moving a specific turtle in one direction. The largest strategic piece tends to be your timing around hatching turtles. Once you expose an egg or turtle, you've created a potential match but also a barrier. One strategy is to expose as many eggs as quickly as possible, relying on your skills to move them around efficiently before they become burned by the sun. This strategy involves moving a lot of water to cool the turtles down, or strategically matching so that the waves roll in and out. Another valid strategy is to expose the smallest number of eggs, keeping the field clean and letting you move eggs more easily into position. Various objects scattered around the beach make each of these strategies easier or harder, but as you play further into Save the Turtles, you'll find that a more patient and measured approach pays off. Early on, it's fun to just expose eggs and not worry much about the consequences, but the game does a nice job of showing you why that becomes a dangerous tactic for your turtles. In the last half of the game, players unaccustomed to fast-moving puzzle games will find their reflexes stretched, which is great for the rest of us that came in wanting a bit more action. If you fit this latter category, Save the Turtles will seem like a slow starter, but hang in there.

Adding to the simplicity of Save the Turtles is the fact that you only have to master the stylus, in order to play. You'll rub, tap, and slide using the stylus, and there's nothing else cluttering up the interaction. We weren't always sure we liked the sliding controls, since there isn't a clearly defined grid on the beach. Imagine a Bejeweled or Connect Four type of game, but without the comfort of a geometric grid to work with. You end up seeing the grid as you slide your turtles, and you can easily see how there are straight lines you'll need to travel in order to connect your turtles' shells, but the number of spaces you are required to move across is left a bit fuzzy. Something more clear on the interface, at least for new players, would have been an improvement. Perhaps we just didn't feel the sliding was all that easy, and there's no alternative means for control. You will find that uncovering turtle eggs is the easiest thing you'll do in the game, but tapping to break shells becomes a bit harder to master. It has to do with whether the egg is completely or partially out of the sand, but you're wasting precious time trying to figure these things out. Sliding has a muddy feeling, so that players may find it hard to get into Save the Turtles as a fast-paced, fluid puzzle game.

We liked the price, and we felt like this delivered more than bargain gameplay. It's a nice story, and the message about helping animals will thrill young gamers steeped in animal helping lore from the likes of Diego and Little Einsteins. In a market absolutely glutted with puzzle games, Save the Turtles still manages to be unique and fun, which is a real accomplishment. We can envision lots of additional features, modes, and design touches that would enhance the experience, but what's here is highly enjoyable for kids and older Puzzle fans. Get thee to the beach, and Save the Turtles.