Sea urchins. They are apparently a hot item and you apparently need to cash in. This is, at least, what one of the featured games of USA's Character Arcade tells you. Urchin Merchant has a deceptive title. It's not a time management game where you sell urchins — it's a Match 3 game incredibly reminiscent of Snood, Bust-a-Move or Bubble Bobble.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, games like Urchin Merchant have a number of colored projectiles. Match three or more of those projectiles and they'll disappear, making any and all other object attached only to those that disappeared fall off, leaving you with less to eliminate. It's a very simple concept, one that's been tried and true for years. Much of the challenge of these games is attempting to finish the level as quickly as possible. Urchin Merchant is no different. You are timed and get points based on your time and the number of urchins that you've "gathered." As you advance, the game adds more and more colors of urchins for you to grab.

While much of the game's charm and originality can be tracked back to some of the other games already mentioned, there are a few tweaks that make this flash game more than just a clone. Sea urchins are spiny little creatures, so when you shoot them, they stick to the surface on top and use a rudimentary physics engine to make the other urchins bounce around and stick to the top of the screen and to other urchins. This makes shooting out the little spiky things a bit more of a tactical decision than normal. Another fun little change is that the sides of the screen are rocks — so it is possible to bounce the urchin below where you shot it, effectively removing it from play. It's one of those gameplay aspects that you think could have been an accident, but actually makes for some really intriguing decisions.

The game's music is pretty standard for this type of fare — repetitive and reminiscent of elevators. It doesn't detract from the fun, nor does it add to it. The aiming of the urchin cannon takes a little getting used to — it took about four or five levels of play before I figured out how to make it work for me. It's not nearly as accurate as Snood or Bust-a-Move, so adjustment for players who enjoy these types of game is really key. Other than that, it's pretty easy. No big surprises other than the addition of colors. It's a decent way to pass the time if you've got a project you want to procrastinate, but don't expect the world from this flash game. It's simple and it makes no apologies for that.

Unfortunately, there's not very much beyond the point-and-shoot concept of Urchin Merchant. There is the ability to play a versus mode with another Character Arcade member for points, but the concept is largely still the same with very little variation. Since it's a Character Arcade game, there are many leaderboards with completely ridiculous and impossible scores to beat. To give you an idea of how high these scores are, you can get about 13000 points if you're not really trying by the end of the first three stages. The top scorer on the game ha 5,436,650 points. Now that's dedication.