Totem is a Tetris Influenced Puzzler developed by Fervent Interactive. The game will set you back 80msp (68 pence) and features 2 modes of play, 28 levels and 4 elemental bosses.
Totem opens up to a good first impression. The menus are clear and well presented with a consistant styling throughout. When jumping into Adventure mode you will be met with a 'world map' which visualises your progression through the game's levels. The game also presents you with an explanation of it's mechanics in the form of a tutorial sheet upon starting a new game. This helps slightly with some of the mechanics however lacks explanation into some of the game's intricacies.
Totem provides you with 7 totem poles all filled with various styles & colours of totems. Also, much like tetris, every few seconds the game will drop the totems shown at the top of the screen down onto your poles. The aim of the game is to clear all of the totems and break the bases. The way this is done is when a totem drops onto another totem of the same style they will both break. The player is able to swap the totems on the pole up and down, along with dropping a higher set onto a lower set on either side. When a full pole is clear any totems which drop down onto the totem base will cause damage; enough damage means a broken base.
The game seems simple in its core concept however offers various ways to combo together and break larger amounts of totems in differing ways, such as horizontally. This is aided by a 'tool' system which provides the player with various power ups. Examples of these are one which destroys every totem on the screen of the selected style, or another which simply destroys the selected totem. It is not long before the difficulty starts to ramp up in the game making the power ups absolutely essential to getting through a level. Every 7th level the game also throws an elemental boss at you. This is a totem which sits in the middle, who will randomly throw various totems onto your poles to put you off. You have to use power ups and horizontal combos to take down and damage the boss. Eventually after destroying him one must continue to finish the level as normal. These offered a small yet needed element of variety to the game.
Visually Totem never really strives to be anything impressive yet still managed to pull off a consistant, well presented style. All of the art is extremely clear and appropriate to the rest of the game. Explosion effects look and sound satisfying, resulting in a more enjoyable experience. The music in the game doesn't ever stand out, however is fits in perfectly.
Totem is an enjoyable and relatively unique take on the block moving puzzle genre. The games visuals, sound and styling all remain consistant throughout. With 28 levels the game won't take too long to complete, but survival allows players to continue enjoying the experience after the main game ends. It would have been nice to see some form of Multiplayer, which is sadly nowhere to be seen whatsoever. Also the game could have benefited from a slightly more explanatory tutorial. Totem offers an enjoyable puzzler experience best served in small chunks due to a lack of variety, however is definitely worth checking out for such a low price.
Chaz gives Totem 3.6/5
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I pretty much agree with Chaz on this game and the score. The game is similar to other gem matching games, but replaces those gems with differently designed segments of a totem pole, hence the game's name 
. A little twist is that you’re able to replace the pieces that drop after they drop.
Basically all you have to do is get a piece to land on the same type of piece, or if two pieces are on stacked top of each other the impact of a falling piece crushes the matched set, reducing the size of that Totem, enabling you to carry on, hopefully till the end of the level.
The basic mechanic of the game is certainly a unique take like Chaz said, and is far different from all of those Bejeweled clones. But it does have some things that annoyed me. The inability to save without having to have fought a boss. After defeating one, the game auto-saves. So if you decide to quit after the second or third area, you’ll have to start over from the first level next time you play. Quitting is an issue as well, as there isn’t a way to leave from the game from the map besides bringing up the dashboard overlay, and quitting that way, not that I could find anyway.
And the music, well, for me I muted my TV. The Tom Tom drums banging around in my ears suit the theme of the game sure, but the soundtrack is about 30 second long, then looped over and over and over. This became almost unbearable for me, hence the muting of my TV, if only for the safety of my family, as a thrown 360 controller does hurt when it strikes a body part.
Apart from those issues (the sound was not a issue with Chaz, therefore just my opinion), the game is cheap and I think all round family fun can be had. So for 68 pence, I'd be pretty chuffed to have this game.