Thanks to Ratalaika Games for the code for this review!

Bone Marrow is a puzzle game that requires logic and is somewhat set up like a chessboard. Bone Marrow opens with an interesting introduction, setting the game in 780 A.D and with a plot of the Blood Moon coming down and waking up a lot of evil creatures lurking in the darkness. It is up to you, the hero, to save the day.

You play as either Bernard or Agvid. Who you play as does not change the mechanics of gameplay. The game opens up in a setting similar to a chess game. However, it is also similar to the online game 2048 in which you join tiles to try to get to the number 2048. Your character’s armor and weapons and also the health indicators of the characters are shown on the left side of the screen, the chess board is in the middle, and a handy guide is shown on the right that tells you how to play. The various pieces you can move across the board all have different numerical values, and the items that are the same can be combined. Bone Marrow also operates on a day and night scheme. At night you can combine items. During the day, you can pick the items up.

Your enemy will also join not long after you start the game. You can only attack enemies during the day. Health, weapons and armor of the enemy are also shown briefly. The change between day and night is marked by a bar on the bottom that shows a moon on the left and a sun on the right and a cursor in between as the time passes. Daytime is marked by the crow of a rooster, and night by the call of a wolf. Gameplay is not really much more elaborate than this. You chug along, combining items and fighting your enemy until victory. Score is kept on the top. The game continues until either you or your enemy is defeated.

The graphics in this game are retro style, in keeping with the game’s theme. That is not to say they are bad. It doesn’t look drawn by an amateur. But the game definitely could have done better in this area. The soundtrack is interesting, and fits the medieval theme of it with simple instruments and a fantasy setting. The animal sounds I previously described are realistic. There is also an interesting clanking noise made as you move parts across the screen and an interesting swishing sound.

The moral score of this game is so-so. It is definitely not squeaky clean , and this game earned its Teen Rating. Bone Marrow is rated Teen for Blood and Violence. I have appropriately deducted the score on this category. It was hard to tell if the killing was being done in self-defense or in cold-blooded murder, but since this is described as combat, I erred on the side of subtracting for done in self-defense. There is no foul or gross language; in fact, this game has virtually no text at all except for the introduction. As for sexual content, there appears to be none in this game either, that is a plus. The occult/supernatural category does deserve points deducted as some enemies are the undead but there is no use of magic, fantasy or otherwise. In terms of cultural and moral category, I erred on the side of caution and deducted a point in line with the violence and gore.

Bone Marrow is not a bad game, and I would even describe it as a good one. But it doesn't offer much variety, or much in the replay category. I can recommend it from a moral perspective if you are not squeamish. And it is fun. It's just not anything I would play more than once, or maybe twice.