Heaven and Earth is an early nineties puzzle game that was created by Publishing International and released for play by Buena Vista Software. It was marketed only for the personal computer running the MS-DOS operating system. It features all sorts of funky themes, ranging from meditation and zen to card playing strategies.
When analyzed more thoroughly, Heaven and Earth is really three separate games that are united through a theme. The first part of the total game is an original card game that was commonly called by the game’s title.
The goal of the game was to score points by creating different combinations of the three types of cards. The cards included the calendar months, the basic earth elements, and some physical structures found on Earth, such as mountains and rivers. The combinations and scoring were easy to learn, but fairly complex to list, since there were so many.
The second portion of the game is an arcade style, action game that was called Pendulum. This is a game of reflexes and mouse control. Picture a pendulum hanging in a bowl, and the movement of the mouse is similar to blowing on a very sensitive pendulum, causing it to sway. You will have to manipulate the pendulum and try to get
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swinging so it passes over a specific marker point in the bowl. Simple concept, difficult task.
The third portion of Heaven and Earth is a puzzle series known as “illusions.” This is a game of reflexes and mouse control. There is a lot of dragging and dropping of blocks, and timing has to be very good in order to score points here. Configuring boxes on the screen becomes very difficult at times, but very addicting also. There is no real way to give a visual image of this game. It is one that you will have to try for yourself in order to fully appreciate how unique (and fun) it is.
Although it is actually a combination of games, Heaven and Earth is very addictive, and one portion is more so than the next. The original card portion of the game seems to be the favorite of most gamers, with its Risk! meets Mah Jong style strategy and interesting graphic-ridden cards. The pendulum game is a polar opposite to this one, with all reflexes being used for success. Finally, the illusions puzzle game is a hybrid of both strategy and physical skill. Heaven and Earth has a little something in it for about every sort of gamer, and will prove itself to be terribly addictive.
