The second Xbox LIVE Community Game for review here at GDN is from Running Pixel. Crystal Crush is a new crystal matching game. It offers four different modes in case you are tired of simply matching three. The four modes are:

•    Match Three – Put three of the same color together of course.
•    Color Match – Fill in the colored pattern by placing crystals.
•    Repulse – Repulse all the wrong crystals and fill the core with the right color.
•    Join – Connect gold crystals with silver crystals to form a solid line.

While there is a diversity of gameplay in Crystal Crush I once commented to Wade that if you ever couldn’t sleep you could load this game up and within 15 minutes you’d be snoring away, controller in hand. I am not exactly why, but this game is uninspiring to me.

It could have to do with the fact that there’s hardly ever any sense of urgency to complete your task. It could be the fact that you don’t actually control the shooting of the crystals and that they come at their own lackadaisical pace. It might even be the combination of the ambient tune and rhythmically flashing backgrounds that lull your brain into some unexpectedly lethargic state.