Imagine you are perched on an elaborate structure, balancing delicately over an abyss. Your rescuer must remove the grey bricks that comprise the structure, letting you tumble, slide, and bounce ever closer to your demise. If all the grey blocks can be removed in such a way that you land safely out of harm's way, then you have won. Such is the predicament of a little orange square. Perhaps, dear reader, you will say the premise of this game makes no sense: that's okay, it's a puzzle game, so it doesn't have to!
Technically, Blok Drop U is a puzzle game. I say that begrudgingly because it didn't feel like I was strategizing as much as making an educated guess and trying my luck. Unlike other puzzle games where you can easily make predictions about the effects of a move, this one relied on a certain degree of intuition about the physics of the game and a certain degree of patiently trying and trying again until fortune smiles upon you. Despite the difficulties of strategizing, I still managed to finish the game within a half-hour. Even though it was easily won, it hardly felt like my own victory as much as the product of repetitive tapping.
Wub-wub-wub-wub DROP THAT BLOK! [insert arm-flapping frenzy here]
The graphics for this game were very simple. I don't mind a puzzle game with a modern aesthetic, but for some reason this one felt lazy rather than edgy or fresh. The music was also very trendy and catchy, but repetitive and simple. Most frustratingly, there were glitches. Every once and a while, the screen would flicker for one fleeting frame, leaving you with the kind of uncertain impression you have when you see lightning out of the corner of your eye. By far the worst was that sometimes, after the twentieth round of hitting the same blocks and hoping for the best, your little orange block would land safely (no doubt heaving an inaudible little sigh of relief) but the game would not detect that you had won, so you would have to start over again anyway!
When it comes to simple puzzle games with a modern aesthetic, there is the potential to create something beautiful and revolutionary, or to half-heartedly crank out a mediocre and generic little turd. Frankly, this game felt like app store fodder. It was simple, could be played mindlessly, and had the lacklustre approach to a modern aesthetic that has become omnipresent in the puzzle game genre. Frankly, I'm not disappointed because the old adage about one getting what one pays for holds ever true, but friends, of all the games that are out there for you to enjoy, why waste your time on this?
