Blockt

Logic-puzzlers are one of those genres that, while not quite on the fringe of gaming, never really have titles that transcend personal preferences to become a bona fide hit.  They just sort of exist, not to excite or inspire but for the sake of existing.  If one is able to capture our attention, we appreciate it for what it is, but we don’t spread the word that we’ve played something remarkable.  Quite frankly, we haven’t.  And if the whole genre suddenly disappeared, I doubt too many people would even take notice.

So basically logic-puzzlers are to video games what Kevin Smith is to movies.

Blockt will seem familiar to some, especially PS3 owners.  It’s a different take of the “maneuver a cube to a goal” style of puzzlers that was recently seen in the Playstation Network title Cuboid.  The hook here is that when your starting block touches various other blocks scattered along the course, they stick together.  Also, unlike Cuboid, parts of your block can hang over the edge of the level.  In fact, sometimes that’s necessary towards solving it.  In later levels, optional yellow cubes are introduced that may or may not be part of the solution.  Even later, purple cubes are introduced that only stick to other purple cubes.  To clear each level, you must stick all necessary cubes together and then maneuver yourself onto the exit without any other blocks touching the floor.

After I finished the game, Brian asked me if I thought it was better than Cuboid.  The truth is, it’s neither better or worse.  It’s the same type of game, but done differently.  Logic-puzzlers are what they are.  As long as the ascetics don’t get in the way and the control scheme works,  there’s nothing left to say about them.  If you like this genre, you’ll like this game.  If you don’t, you won’t.  It’s that simple.

In the case of Blockt, the graphics are clean, the objective is clear, and the control scheme didn’t give me any problems.  I should note that the controls apparently have been problematic for others, but I didn’t experience any of that myself.  I did often adjust the camera from isometric to straight-forward, but that wasn’t because I had problems.  Sometimes it just offered a better way to plot out how I would go about solving a puzzle.

I will give Blockt some credit because it is a WAY better value than Cuboid.  It costs $3 on Xbox Live Indie Games.  Cuboid costs $10 on PSN, or $8 with a Playstation Plus membership.  Blockt also has more levels, 75 to be exact, compared to about 60 for the Cuboid.  So in terms of economics, Blockt is the clear winner.  Cuboid also has some stuff related to timing puzzles, whereas Blockt relies on just plain old brain power.

So I liked Blockt, because it gave me exactly what I expected of it: a few hours worth of brain teasers and nothing more.  For you enthusiasts of the genre, yes, it works.  Now feel free to purchase it.  Everyone else likely logged off IndieGamerChick when the first words of this review were “logic-puzzlers.”  Which is fine with me.  It frees me to say pretty much anything I want here.  I can say “Whipsy Flipsy Boo Ahh!” and nobody will be reading to think I’ve finally gone mental.   I can say I have a tiny crush on Katie Couric and Twitter won’t light up with discussions of whether or not I’m bisexual.  You know, it’s not bad writing stuff that I know nobody will read.  Now I know how Whatshisface feels.

Blockt was developed by Moltensoft

240 Microsoft Points didn’t say anyone in particular so if you think I’m talking about you it says more about you than me in the making of this review.  You know, my Microsoft Points say the weirdest shit.