The Treasures of Montezuma is a Match-Three Game series developed by Visual Shape and published by Alawar Entertainment. Each level's goal is reaching a certain crystal quota by matching or destroying tokens that have them. Later games also have objectives like getting enough points or catching frogs.
The series' most unique feature are the purchasable totems. When you match tokens of the same colors twice in a row, the corresponding totem activates and provides some kind of (usually) beneficial effect. At higher levels, it's possible to use them more after the first time with just one match. Any power-ups spawn on the tokens themselves, so the only way to affect the game board is to swap them around.
Games in the series:
- The Treasures of Montezuma (2006)
- Curse of Montezuma (2008)
- The Treasures of Montezuma 2 (2009)
- The Treasures of Montezuma 3 (2011)
- Treasures of Montezuma Blitz (2013)
- The Treasures of Montezuma 4 (2013)
- Treasures of Montezuma: Arena (2014)
- Montezuma Blitz (2014)
- The Treasures of Montezuma 5 (2015)
This game provides examples of:
- Achievement System: There's a list of awards earned for doing different things during gameplay that count Award Points depending on their difficulty.
- Cash Gate: Some levels can only be played after you've purchased a specific building.
- Early Game Hell: The games are more challenging during the early levels before unlocking totems and power-ups, since you have to play within the time alotted and have no help to rely on. Once you have some of the more useful ones like the green or orange one, getting a time for a good rating or winning in time overall turns far easier.
- Empty Levels: The green totem in 2 has the exact same base effect for level 3 and 4 - freeing all crystals and spawning another seven.
- Endless Game: Endless mode goes on as long as you want. If you run out moves, the board reshuffles and the level starts over.
- Extradimensional Emergency Exit: As explained in 4's opening, to escape from the invaders, Montezuma and Anakoana escape through a portal to another world. Unfortunately, the latter still ends up killed.
- Fireballs: The red totem chucks fireballs onto the puzzle board, destroying several tiles in the process.
- Gameplay Grading: Depending on the time the level was cleared, you get a differently colored mask (green, yellow, or blue) or award (gold, silver, or bronze).
- Harder Than Hard: 2's Expert mode (in some places mislabeled as Hard mode), which has really strict time limits, but also lets you unlock the final levels of buildings as you play through.
- Hint System: You can push a button during match three levels to get a potential match or in hidden object stages to have a part's location shown.
- Marathon Level: Later levels in gem-based games have such high requirements (going beyond 200 gems in some cases) that they can easily take 10 or more minutes to clear (of course, the orange totem will make it seem like much less time has passed).
- No Plot? No Problem!: 2 and 3 lack a plot. The other games are generally above Excuse Plot territory.
- Power Up Let Down: The Yellow Totem and any Score Multiplier bonuses are useless if the level's objective isn't gathering enough points.
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: You can pick a male or a female player character, but it changes nothing gameplay-wise.
- Score Multiplier:
- Point Frenzy doubles points while active.
- One power-up multiplies points by three if a token with it is included in a match, which is upgradeable.
- Themed Cursor: An option is to have the cursor look like an Aztec arrow pointer that changes into a hand when hovering over an option.
- Timed Mission: You have to complete some levels within a certain time limit. In regular levels, getting within a certain time quota rewards you with a better mask/award on the level select screen. On higher difficulties, falling under a low rank results in instant failure.
