Marble Duel

About

In Marble Duel, engage in magic-fueled duels against monsters in a kingdom overrun by a cruel witch. Upgrade your spells, level up your mage, and harness the ancient power of magic spheres to eradicate evil. Meet unique characters and form unexpected alliances on your journey. No release date or developer/publisher mentioned.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

50%

Audience ScoreBased on 118 reviews

story7 positive mentions

monetization3 negative mentions

The game offers a unique twist on the marble shooting genre with turn-based mechanics and RPG elements, making it engaging and strategic.
Many players appreciate the beautiful graphics and art style, which enhance the overall experience of the game.
The game provides a sense of satisfaction and achievement as players progress through levels and upgrade their character's abilities.

The game suffers from significant difficulty spikes, particularly after level 50, leading to frustration as the AI appears to have unfair advantages.
There are numerous bugs and technical issues, including problems with marble shooting mechanics and a lack of customization options for controls.
Many players feel that the game is overpriced for the content and quality provided, especially considering it was originally a mobile game.

story
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
73%
10%
The story in the game is generally perceived as shallow and unengaging, with many reviewers noting its lack of depth and coherence. While some appreciate the cute art and fairy tale elements, the narrative often feels tacked on and serves primarily as a backdrop for the gameplay rather than a compelling experience. Overall, the storyline is seen as a weak point, with players more focused on the mechanics than the plot itself.
- “Bought for the beautiful profile backgrounds, stayed for the fun and simple gameplay embedded in a lovely story.”
- “The story is there, but it is skippable, even if the characters are unique and the dialogue is nicely put together.”
- “That being said, the story itself is pretty cute and I rather liked helping Evy fight her way through a whole world she didn't mean to get involved in.”
- “The story, what little story there is, is shallow, boring, and makes little sense.”
- “The story is utterly forgettable and more a nuisance than anything else.”
- “The only thing I'd agree with the others is the lackluster storyline.”
gameplay
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
72%
8%
The gameplay of the game is a blend of traditional match-3 mechanics with RPG elements, offering a mix of strategic depth and casual fun. While many players appreciate the innovative turn-based approach and the engaging character stats, some criticize the overpowered enemies and random mechanics that can detract from the experience. Overall, it appeals to fans of the genre, though it may feel repetitive and simplistic to others.
- “The game is so incredibly well-designed and innovative... and I'm amazed that the devs managed to convert gameplay that was previously based primarily on hand-eye coordination into turn-based, giving this game a whole new depth in terms of its very strategic gameplay.”
- “The relaxing gameplay and wonderful art style makes for a great experience, and I think any casual gamer or Luxor fan should give this one a try as they won't be disappointed.”
- “It's a colorful and interesting puzzle game that also incorporates stats that you can raise to make your gameplay different.”
- “The developers didn't care enough to fix even some simple issues that break gameplay, so why would you dedicate more time to this game than they did?”
- “The vs. mechanics are far too random and offer little agency to the player.”
- “You can get the same type of gameplay/casual relaxation in any Zuma game without having to deal with cheating AI.”
graphics
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
43%
14%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the colorful and charming artwork, describing it as "beautiful" and "pleasing to the eye." However, others criticize the simplistic 2D visuals, noting that they feel lackluster and reminiscent of cheap flash games, with limited options for improvement. Overall, while the art style has its fans, it may not meet the expectations of those seeking more sophisticated graphics.
- “Graphically, this game is quite impressive.”
- “The relaxing gameplay and wonderful art style makes for a great experience and I think any casual gamer or Luxor fan should give this one a try as they won't be disappointed.”
- “Beautiful graphics.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lackluster 2D visuals.”
- “The graphics are entirely 2D and the artwork for the cutscenes are passable.”
music
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
47%
18%
The music in the game is generally described as fitting the fairy tale theme and beautifully composed, but it suffers from repetitiveness and a lack of memorable tracks. While some players appreciate the sound effects and overall audio quality, many express a desire for more volume control options and find the music can become annoying over time. Overall, the music enhances the game's aesthetic but may not hold players' attention throughout.
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- “+ great sound work - both the original soundtrack and effects are well done.”
- “About the art, the music is beautiful and the scenes are detailed and colorful.”
- “You cannot adjust any of the noise levels (music, for example).”
- “Music... appropriate, but repetitive and a bit boring.”
- “The sound effects are crisp and the music fits the fairy tale-like theme of the game but is not very memorable.”
monetization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The monetization strategy of "Marble Duel: Sphere-Matching Tactical Fantasy" has drawn criticism for its origins as a mobile game designed around microtransactions, which were removed in the PC version without rebalancing the gameplay. Players find themselves at a disadvantage due to lower stats compared to AI opponents, highlighting the game's reliance on in-app purchases for a fair experience. Overall, it is perceived as a cash grab that fails to adapt to its new platform.
- “Because this was originally a mobile game and had microtransactions to acquire more crystals.”
- “When the game was released on PC, they removed the microtransactions, but didn't rebalance the game.”
- “Marble Duel: Sphere-Matching Tactical Fantasy is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it were a real PC game. It's a cash grab from greedy mobile developers. The game is a simple, but unabashed ripoff of Luxor (copyright 2005, MumboJumbo).”
- “When the game was released to PC, they removed the microtransactions, but didn't rebalance the game.”
- “Because Marble Duel was designed with mobile games in mind, the game was balanced for in-app purchases.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been reported to have significant stability issues, including frequent bugs and performance slowdowns that can lead to freezing after extended play. Additionally, there are inconsistencies with Steam achievements, which only unlock after closing the game, further contributing to a frustrating user experience.
- “The game also has a few bugs; after playing for an hour or so, it starts to slow down its framerate until it eventually freezes when you try to quit.”
- “And on top of that, it is buggy too.”
- “Too buggy.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of Marble Duel to be tedious, as it requires constant reallocation of experience points to adapt to different levels, making the gameplay feel repetitive. Additionally, the reliance on luck for card farming further contributes to the grindy experience.
- “Marble Duel, quite tellingly, is to Luxor/Zuma what Puzzle Quest is to Bejeweled - a duel against a CPU opponent (albeit with a far less entertaining narrative). The game is on the grindy side and it forces you to constantly reallocate your experience points between different skills to accommodate certain conditions of each new level, which turns into an additional, at times quite tedious, chore.”
- “It's grindy; it's totally luck-based.”
- “Playtime is primarily spent on card farming.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
100%
Players note that the ability to earn star points by quickly completing levels adds a layer of replayability, as it encourages revisiting earlier stages to upgrade the heroine's stats when facing challenges. However, the overall replay value is considered limited.
- “Beating levels quickly earns you star points, which can be used to upgrade the heroine's stats (health, attack, defense, heal effectiveness). This adds replay value, as you may need to revisit earlier levels to enhance your stats if you find yourself stuck on a particular level.”
- “Beating levels quickly earns you star points, which can be used to upgrade the heroine's stats (health, attack, defense, heal effectiveness). This adds some replay value, as you may need to revisit earlier levels to enhance your stats if you get stuck on a particular level.”
- “Some replay value.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is perceived as inconsistent; while some players appreciate the comedic elements, others feel that the overwhelming difficulty of enemies detracts from the fun, turning what could be humorous encounters into frustrating experiences.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
300%
The game's optimization system allows players to earn "crystals" based on their performance, which can be used to enhance various stats like health and attack strength. Players can respec between levels to adapt their builds strategically, as each enemy requires a tailored approach for effective combat.
- “You gain 'crystals' depending on your performance in each level, which you can then use to increase your stats, such as starting health, attack strength, healing efficiency, etc. You can respec any time between levels, allowing for different 'builds' - which you should do, because each enemy has a specific build of their own.”
- “The game suffers from severe optimization issues, making it frustrating to play at times.”
- “I often experience lag and stuttering during gameplay, which detracts from the overall experience.”
- “The loading times are excessively long, disrupting the flow of the game and making it feel unpolished.”