I'd give 5 stars if it actually had screen resolution resets. On my widescreen MAC in full screen it's distorted and flattened. A button to quit might be nice too. That aside it's a very different puzzle game and very enjoyable to play. Good for if you're thinking as you play or just to unwind. Even distorted I am having fun with it. A few more options like controls for sound effects and music would be some nice polish on the game too, or the ability to play your iTunes music while it plays. An excellently designed puzzle game, easily one of the best with just a few improvements, and that's NOT to gameplay.

Unlike many Match-3 variants that are based on fast judgement and quick reflexes, SteamBalls emphasizes strategy and foresight; althought there are bonus multipliers that diminish over time, the game play is not rushed in the least. When deciding where to drop each ball (or bomb), you must consider the color of the adjacent balls where the ball will land, the weight of the ball and how it contibutes to the total column weight (which in turn affects the movement of the balances at the base of the columns), as well as the colors and types of next two rows of balls that will be placed (visible along the top of the columns). You can also match five of the same color vertically to cause them to collapse into a very dense single ball. Scoring is based on the weights of the balls that are matched horizontally or diagonally and the multipliers in effect when they disappear.I was enjoying this game almost immediately - and I generally don't like Match-3! It took a few games to get used to the strategy, but I've been playing it for hours now. If you like strategy games, Match-3 played at a somewhat slower pace, and being completely unproductive, chances are you'll enjoy SteamBall.

The game itself is fine. It's entertaining and fun to play. But it uses way too much CPU power. With activity monitor open it shows that it uses 64-68% just sitting idle. Once I start playing it, it can shoot up to 85-90%. My laptop gets super hot and the fans start blowing. In addition you cannot turn the sound all the way off (no full mute) and so it's aways playing in the background. In full screen mode I couldn't use the esc button to escape out and had to do a command-Q to close the program. btw, it uses too much computer resources whether in full screen or not.The developer should tone this game down a bit and make it a lot more efficient. There are other games with even superior graphics that only use 30-40% of the CPU. I ended up tossing the game into the trash. Too bad, because there's nothing wrong with the game play itself. I just don't want to burn up my little MBA 11inch :-)

Today, one of my dreams came true: SteamBalls for Mac was released.SteamBalls. Not too long ago I was downloading the iPhone and iPad versions.I remember feeling pretty impressed with what I was seeing in the photos.Once I started to play it, however - Instant Love.The mac version has the same tutorial visuals (Animations) showing what each special Ball does.This is done better in SteamBalls than any other game, as they show a real example of each.The whole premise is to Match 3 or Match 5 (3 gorizontally, diagonally and 5 Vertically)What's awesome about this is that each ball has a different weight value (not by color either, 2 green balls can weigh different amounts).Just when you think you may have a match of 3 or more lined up, as you drop the 3rd ball, the weight can send the scales out of sync.This is one thing that really makes this game so genius.I believe in the developer so 5 big stars it is!I can't recommend SteamBalls enough.Too often we see Match 3 games come along with nothing new to offer.SteamBalls has EVERYTHING NEW to offer.Pick it up NOW - The price is a steal, especially for the hours and hours and hours you could get out of this baby!