If you're a regular here at The Clik, this probably isn't the first time you've seen us talk about Chime, the debut release from non-profit game publisher OneBigGame. It was back in November that we first heard about the new puzzler, developed by veteran game studio Zoë Mode in an effort to help raise money for the Starlight Children's Foundation and Save the Children charities. Now gamers finally get the chance to "Chime" in for themselves, with the game's recent release on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. Luckily, this is one time where giving for the greater good is entertaining as well as charitable.

On the surface, Chime looks like just another Tetris clone, with a hipper soundtrack. Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll see that Chime is a lot more intricate. Each stage is made up of a gridded board with a vertical "beat line", which slides across the screen in time with the music for that stage. Players are then given a series of randomly shaped pieces to place anywhere on the board. Players use these pieces to cover sections of the game board in chunks of 3x3 or larger (called "quads"). As the beat line hits these quads, it clears the quad from the board, shading that area of the board but reopening it to place more pieces. The ultimate goal is to try and shade in the entirety of the game board with quads before the timer runs out.

The game gets even trickier as quads get removed from the board, leaving little bits and pieces in their wake scattered around the grid. These extra bits left behind can sometimes work in your favor, fitting perfecting inside of a new quad, but other times, they just get in the way. Even more frustrating, these extra bits weaken each time the beat line crosses them, losing color along the way and flashing to the player when it's on its last legs. Once the beat line hits one of these flashing bits, all the junked bits on the board are wiped out and the player loses any score multiplier he might have built up. This is a double edged sword of sorts, as you might be glad to see the board cleaned up from the random bits littering the screen, only to realize that you've been building a massive quad around one of them ... leaving a hole in your well orchestrated puzzle placement. If it seems confusing on paper, don't worry. It might take a few rounds to get the hang of the gameplay, but after that you'll be hooked.

With so much of Chime's gameplay centered on the how each puzzle interacts with the music, it wouldn't do to have some sort of generic thumping beats. Instead, Zoë Mode pulled together some top names from the music industry to contribute to Chime's soundtrack. The game includes some amazing electronic tracks from Moby, Paul Hartnoll (of Orbital fame), Lemon Jelly member Fred Deakin, trance DJ Markus Schulz, and composer Philip Glass. Each stage begins with a basic section of the track playing in the background. More music is added to the track in dramatic fashion, based on where you form quads on the grid and how big they are.

OneBigGame has had a lot riding on Chime. If it strikes a chord (no pun intended) with gamers, the publisher stands to do a lot of good for the charities it helps. Plus, it could prove that just because you're contributing to charity, it doesn't mean you can't have fun doing it. Thankfully, Chime is an amazing experience, and one that would be a great addition to any Xbox owner's library, even at twice the price. And hey, the fact that you're supporting a good cause in the process? Well, that's just the icing on the cake.

Final Score: A+