Welcome to our CHEATfactor Game Review of You Must Build a Boat. We review the game and then factor in how the available cheats affect the overall game experience. For better or worse, our reviews will help you decide whether or not to use cheats when playing the game.

The fact that EightyEight games has been able to take two genres that I've grown incredibly tired of and not only grab my interest but keep me playing is nothing short of astonishing. You Must Build a Boat's strange mix of endless runner and match three gameplay may not be for everyone but it will surely strike a cord with a lot of gamers, even a few of them who may not have expected to like it this much. It's a unique and inexpensive puzzler game that's got challenge and personality to spare and not one to pass up if you're looking for something just a little different.

If the idea of a game that mixes gameplay from endless runners, match three and even RPGs sounds strange to you it's likely that you haven't played EightyEight Games previous title 10,000,000. Confession time, if you caught me in a meeting or a press conference and I had my phone in my hand, it's likely I was playing 10,000,000. You Must Build a Boat is essentially the same premise - an adventurer runs from left to right encountering enemies that require you to match three weapons and treasure chests that you'll have to match keys to open up. All the while the edge of the screen is growing ever closer to the hero and if he gets to close the run is over. It sounds pretty simple but that's part of the allure here and it's the same type of gameplay that keeps you coming back again and again for "one more game."

For You Must Build a Boat, EightyEight Games has tweaked the formula just enough to make the original seem like it's lacking features if you were to go back and play it.  New here is the ability to continue making matches even when you're not required to in an effort to speed up the pace. It's a welcome addition since before I was constantly searching for a match as soon as I saw what was coming up ahead but this new feature allows me to be more proactive and not as frantic when an enemy of chest comes up. Does it take some of the surprise out of the gameplay? Sure, but you can bet you'll be scrambling when you don't have the right match saved up to advance.

Adding to the challenge here is the addition of traps to the formula. If you do become invested in a game of You Must Build a Boat, prepare to hate traps as they're sure to ruin even the best game you've got going. In truth, they don't ask you to do much different than the core gameplay, but they do ask you to make a random match which often ruins any momentum and plan you have going for your game. Got a few weapon matches lined up? Better hope that trap doesn't make you change your plans. That's part of the fun of You Must Build a Boat, thinking on your feet and doing anything you can to make your run last that much longer.

The biggest change to the EightyEighty Games formula though is simple - it's the boat. Each run you go through in You Must Build a Boat results in you getting something for your boat. While sometimes it's a new crew member, ability or piece for a boat, you'll also sometimes get small little trinkets that are mostly worthless on your journey. It all adds together though for a unique sense of progression that keeps you moving from dungeon to dungeon . I'm a bit ashamed to say how excited I got when my boat started getting bigger and having a ton of crew members. Those crew members can then become helpful in your runs and they can help you take out monsters through some pretty awesome attacks. Be warned though this all adds up to making your "one more run" turn in to hours of playing.

You Must Build a Boat won't be for everyone though. It takes two genres that have been undeniably driven into the ground with shameless movie tie-ins and rip-off iOS games and if you're not able to get past that then there's a good chance that you're not going to like much about EightyEight Games latest. The visuals are charming but even less than 8-bit quality...but hey, it's only $5 right? Most though will be able to see You Must Build a Boat for what it is, a fun and inventive combination of genres that really shouldn't work though somehow it does. Most importantly it's just plain a lot of fun.