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The main play area is an 8x8 grid of squares that remains constant in size and shape. Beginning with the third treasure chest, an additional star can be obtained by replaying already solved chest levels and reaching the highest number of points listed. When the chest opens, the player is awarded a magic star, which can be used in the shop area to enable and enhance power-ups. To open the chest and extract the treasure within, reach or exceed the designated number of points for each stage and obtain its medal. There are eight gold chests in each vault with point values in predetermined amounts representing stages. Time to complete each level has been reduced to one minute versus three or four minutes. Unlike previous games in the series, the main objective is to open golden treasure chests hidden behind the five padlocked doors and extract the riches within, rather than simply to collect all the gems.
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Players are dropped immediately into a corridor leading to the Montezuma Palace treasury without any background story. The Treasures of Montezuma 3 is a single-player, one-minute-madness, match 3 tile matching game with an Aztec theme.
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