Around the World in 80 Days is a game released in 2008 for computers running Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, and mobile devices based on the novel of the same name. In it, you play as Phileas Fogg who has to travel the world in 80 days. Joined by his servant Passepartout, he also has to pick up a stamp in each of the seven countries he visits as proof. The game follows the plot of the book with some minor alterations.
This is a Match-Three Game in which you have to drop pieces of an item to the bottom of the game board to beat the level. You have a power-up that goes through the following stages: hammer (breaks one tile), Tesla hammer (breaks all tiles of a certain type), Bomb (breaks ten tiles in a rhombus-like radius), and fireball (breaks nine tiles in a square radius in addition to annihilating tiles in eight directions). You have to beat each stage before the in-game day is over. There are also levels in which you have to break all tiles on the board to get a stamp to cap off each country, as well as a story that's told through in-game cutscenes and Fogg's journal.
This game provides examples of:
- 1-Up: You can gain extra lives if you drop a heart icon to the bottom of the playing field.
- Boring Yet Practical: The hammer is a quickly rechargable power-up that destroys only one tile. It's suprisingly versatile and needed to save your skin dozens of times in the later levels.
- Bowdlerise: Rather than be executed after getting married to an old rajah and him dying, which causes Fogg to rescue her from immolation, Aouda is about to get married to an old rajah and Fogg has to rescue her by bribing her father with a generous offering.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: Most levels have you collect pieces of a necessary item that are scattered around the game board.
- Every 10,000 Points: As stated by one of the in-game tips, every 100,000 points bring you an extra life.
- Fireballs: The last power-up available is a fireball which breaks blocks in eight directions.
- Frame-Up: Detective Fix tries to make Fogg guilty of stealing several treasures in Egypt, which causes him to have to investigate and prove his innocence.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: As proof of his travels, Fogg has to collect a stamp in every country's last level.
- Greed: Fogg is disgusted by Aouda's uncle's greed, as he is prepared to abandon his intention of marrying his niece for "wealthy arguments", which are valuables collected in India's levels.
- Idiosyncratic Combo Levels: Each combo multiplier of 3 starting from 6 has a word show up. 6 is Superb, 9 is Marvelous, 12 is Outstanding.
- New Game Plus: After beating all 81 levels, you can start a new journey back in day 1 with all the score and lives kept from previous journeys. However, with every new journey, the timer is more strict and there are now rocks the game calls "debris" that can't be matched and even if they fall to the bottom of the game board, they respawn. Journey 7 maxes out the debris at 13 at once, at least.
- A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: Downplayed as approximately 150-200 years too late, but the captain in USA believes he's a pirate which is why he's against letting Aouda on his ship, which causes him to be labeled as an eccentric and Fogg to see it as ridiculous. The last leg of the journey involves getting pirate items to satisfy his beliefs.
- Power-Up: You have a power-up which charges every time you match four or more tiles at once. It has up to four levels of charge which affect how potent it is, but the power-up bar becomes empty at the end of each level.
- Score Screen: After each level, you have your score that counts how many tiles were destroyed, how many matches were made, how many pieces of an item were received, score from leftover time, and total score.
- Strange-Syntax Speaker: The hot-air balloon salesman in China speaks backwards, with lines like "Bring me that which wind creates on a day that hot is".
- Talk Like a Pirate: The captain in USA uses pirate words like "ye" and "shiver me timbers", since he believes he is a pirate.
- Timed Mission: Each level is an in-game day, so you obviously have to accomplish the objective before it ends.
- Too Awesome to Use: Discouraged by the fact that the power-up bar becomes empty after each level, thus you're recommended to use it before it ends.
- Where It All Began: Days 1 to 7 take place in England, where Fogg has to get items necessary for travel. Much later, day 81 takes places back in England, where Fogg has to get golden rings for his wedding with Aouda, beginning the last level of the game.
