There just aren’t enough crate based games in this world… which is where Blocks, a jet propulsion game created by Darkwind Media comes in. The purpose of the game is simple: you have a lift with jet thrusters on either side and a crate lightly balanced on top of it. This crate needs to to be delivered to an “island” in the most time-efficient way. What is so important about this delivery? This is never revealed to us, but time is an important factor in this game, so it is suggested that it is significant.
As I said, time is important in this game, which is why the main object of the game is getting this package to its destination at high speeds. You are rated on your performance based on how fast you can get through the level, and are awarded stars. The possible stars to be awarded are bronze, silver, gold and red. The first three should be self-explanatory as they basically just rate your performance, with gold being the best. Red is a separate award and yields a perfect rating. Since touching the stone blocks that serve as the border is a big no-no, you will earn a red star by avoiding them.
I found the game extremely challenging, as getting the right level of balance to keep your crate from just toppling off of the lift is extremely difficult. In many cases, the crate would get trapped between the lift and the stone blocks as I would try to not let it drop. Once the crate falls off of the lift, it’s game over. Although you do not fail from dropping the crate, once it falls off it is impossible to get it back onto the lift. I wish that when it fell off the lift it would just fail you, as having to manually restart is a little annoying.
While the extreme challenge of the game is a little frustrating, it is not the downside to this game. The game’s idea is what did not bode well with me: I found it to be boring for the most part. After a few levels I felt like playing something else. There are 65 levels in this game at varying difficulties, tutorials being the majority of the first levels available. The levels get more challenging over time, but overall it is easy to beat all of the levels quickly. Although the real challenge of the game is to get all gold and red stars, I found myself not even wanting to replay the levels more than once. This was especially true after the insane number of times I had to restart the level after the crate fell off.
While hardly a terrible game as far as indie games go, Blocks did not draw me in at all. I suppose it would be a good pick up and play game, or one to casually pass the time. If you are a fan of challenging puzzle games, this one could be for you.
