STORY
Castle Of Elite is a freeware puzzle game created by Daniel Remar of Remar Games. Your character is trapped in a castle, and it is up to you to guide them to the portal in each room. However, this is not as easy as it sounds. The portal will not open until all of the coins have been collected, and picking up all the coins can be VERY tricky. You can build walls to help you get past certain obstacles, and you can also make walls disappear. You have to use a variety of switches and teleports to explore the screen, as well as avoiding electricity sparks, which makes things very interesting. Baddies (sweepers, trappers, trundlers etc) can hurt you if you touch them, so be careful to avoid them. You can destroy them by placing a wall on top of them, though.



GAMEPLAY
The game uses an interesting combination of keyboard and mouse control. The keyboard is used to guide your character - use the arrow keys for left or right, or jump. The mouse is used to control walls - left click to place a wall, right click to make a wall disappear.

The game is divided into different sections - Easy \ Medium \ Hard \ Elite - and each section has 12 different screens to complete. Yellow tiles represent screens that you have not completed yet, green tiles are for screens that you have managed to complete, and red tiles are screens that are not yet accessible to you. The game automatically remembers which screens you have done, and saves your progress. You are able to replay a screen if you wish, or sometimes you can skip a screen. This is very handy if you are stuck, and cannot complete a particular screen.

The first section is a tutorial, to ease you into the game, and teach you how to play it. Walls come in many different shapes, and it is fun experimenting with them. You can place them on blue electricity sparks for a short time, before they burn out. Winged boots allow you to jump higher. Teleports were fun, as you got teleported to another area. You have infinite lives in this game, which is a welcome feature. Some of the screens are incredibly tricky, and you will be killed many times. On the other hand, sometimes I thought the levels were a bit TOO hard, and you can get frustrated attempting the same screen several times.

I thought the character selection was a lovely idea. You can change your character by going into the screen selection, and clicking on the character at the bottom at any time. There is a nice variety, and you will soon find a favourite.



GRAPHICS
The graphics are nice and colourful, and each baddie has its own distinct style. I thought all the characters were very cute. Their big eyes just add a certain charm to the game. All the characters are animated very smoothly, and it was fun to watch them. There is a nice sparkling effect as you enter each portal, which adds a nice touch.



MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS
The music is upbeat and lively. It inspires to keep trying, and you will soon find yourself humming along. The sound effects are 'cute', and really suit the style of the game. I love the 'boing' as you jump up, as well as the 'clink' as you place bricks. It makes the whole game very cheery, and a pleasure to play.



SUMMARY
This is a fun, challenging puzzle game that will keep you busy for hours. I liked the combination of keyboard and mouse to control the game that is quite unusual in a puzzle game. The tutorial is a nice touch, so you gradually learn all the wee tricks. The graphics are nice and colourful, and I liked that you could choose which character to play. The screen selection was a good idea. My only complaint is that I found some of the levels too hard, and I was unable to complete them.

Why not try Castle Of Elite for yourself? What do you have to lose?