4 Elements II is a Puzzle Game by Playrix that combines elements of Hidden Object Game, Match-Three Game, and spot the difference genres released in 2011. It is a sequel to the 2008 4 Elements.
Similar to but not exactly like its prequel, 4 Elements II follows a magical world where a wizard loses control of four elements, and it's up to you to save them. Unlike the first installment, where you have to restore four magic books with the help of a single fairy, you have to save four fairies trapped in a single, magic book.
The main rules of the game is similar to its predecessor, where you first have to restore an elemental scene (thus freeing its fairy), play four match-three levels to restore a card, then fix the card with a bonus level. Bonus levels can either be spot-the-difference tests (as in the original installment), rearranging the pieces of cut-up cards, or hidden object games where the clues are either straightforward or cryptic riddles.
Match three levels are similar to the first game's, but with new obstacles including rings, pipelines, beacons, and sliding block puzzles.
This game provides examples of:
- Animal Motifs: Each element has one card based on a real animal: Hummingbird for air, Salamander for fire, Deer for earth, and Turtle for water.
- Anti-Frustration Features: Challenges in the elemental scenes can be skipped after a few minutes.
- Arc Number: As with the first installment, four. Four elements, four fairies, four sections in the book, four items in each elemental scene, four items in each riddle hidden object stage, four differences in each spot-the-difference stage, four power-ups, four normal piece colors in one level note , four match-three levels per section. Notably, instead of four books, all elements are seen in a single book.
- Art Initiates Life: The elements can only be controlled if the cards and their accompanying text are restored.
- Author Avatar: The Playrix dragon appears in the background animations of a few levels. Also, the board for Level 64 is shaped like him.
- Chekhov's Gun: The bottom of the well in the air scene is actually the earth scene.
- Color-Coded Elements: Earth is green, fire is red/orange, air is light blue, water is dark blue.
- Cool Horse: The Pegasus.
- Cool Ship: The Flying Ship in the world of the Pegasus.
- Druid: The second card in the Earth section, described as a great healer.
- Elemental Motifs: Granted, as the game is about the four classical elements.
- Exposition: Some levels have signs with hints and tips on them.
- Fairy Companion: Four fairies, one for each element.
- Father Neptune: Neptune himself is the last card in the water section. He is said to guard a spring from which all water comes from.
- Fauns and Satyrs: A faun with stubby horns is the third card in the Earth section.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The characters will refer to you with the name you used for the savefile.
- Hint System: A hint button is available in elemental scene and card restoring levels. Once it's ready, clicking it makes the fairy point where an item piece can be found or where the difference is.
- Lethal Lava Land: The fire energy that is transported to the altar resembles lava.
- Level Goal: Every connect 3 level has you guide the energy to the altar of magic.
- Level-Map Display: You can click on a button in the bottom-left corner to show a simplified map of the level.
- Living Drawing: The Air fairy states the cards are alive. Unlike the first game, the cards actually change when levels are completed, instead of objects simply being layered over them. They start out by showing disaster-struck versions of their settings and actually move once fully restored. For example, the Pegasus card starts with a conical storm that turns into a wooden lighthouse, the Druid's card initially shows wolves in a dark forest, and the mountain in the Salamander card starts off as a rocky mountain before turning into an active volcano and then a grass-covered hill.
- Nature Hero: The Ent guards the forest from those who wish to exploit it.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Dragons are described as lonely and only want to have friends.
- Our Fairies Are Different: One fairy for each element, as well as a nondescript one in the Air section that lives in large flowers in the forest.
- Our Genies Are Different: The Ifrit is depicted as a stereotypical genie and is said to train young phoenixes not to be afraid of fire.
- Pegasus: The first card in the Air section and indeed the entire game.
- Power-Up: There are four power-ups available: spade (green), bomb (red), swap (light blue), and shuffle (dark blue). Each one can be used after you destroyed enough tiles that correspond to it.
- Ratchet Scrolling: The level scrolls as tiles are broken and energy fills through the empty parts, but it only goes in the direction of the arrow with no way to backtrack.
- Timed Mission: Every connect 3 level has a time limit, indicated by a how much green liquid is left in a gauge to the right, although it can be turned off in one wants.
- Token Minority: The Earth fairy is African-American and the Water fairy appears to be Asian.
