blocd
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bloc'd is a highly addictive riff on Tetris that you should download right now
Tetris is the first game I remember someone being addicted to. After weeks of being made fun of by my father as a child for how much I was playing the game, I awoke one night to sounds coming from downstairs. The sound was my father at 2AM furiously trying to beat his high score. He'd already beaten ours. I was reminded of that story when I woke up my wife early one morning as I furiously tried to top my own high score in bloc'd. After all these years I'd finally become my dad, but it was worth it to experience bloc'd. The set up is simple: half of the player's screen is rows of colored blocks, shapes drop from the top of the screen towards a series of spikes, and players rush to draw that shape in the blocks directly below it. You have two options for creating shapes. First you can swipe on two or more of the same colored blocks causing them to disappear, providing new blocks to match up. Or you can double-tap an individual block that's in your way, causing it to disappear. Players are limited to five double-taps per game unless they'd like to purchase the game's $0.99 in-app unlimited taps option. It sounds complicated, but you'll be swiping and tracing in seconds. The only complicated part is stopping yourself from playing yet another game when the harsh hand of destruction comes down. The moment you think you've found your rhythm, the shapes start to get more complicated while dropping ever faster. Players who upgrade to the paid version of the app also get the ability to freeze or remove falling shapes in addition to unlimited taps. I appreciate that some players may enjoy these features, and developers have to eat and make their rent payments. As a fan of this game, I want the developers to eat rich bountiful feasts as a reward for what they've created. But personally unlimited double-taps, block vanishing, or block slowing powers get in the way of the insidious genius of bloc'd -- the bitter swearing under your breath when you waste your last double-tap or the cold knowledge that the block will never stop dropping even if you're nowhere near having the shape you need. If you enjoy puzzle games bloc'd will quickly make its way to the top of your playlist. Its shifting difficulty makes it suitable for a quick time-killer in line or taking over all your free time on a flight. You should play bloc'd. You should support the developer of bloc'd. But you should also try playing with just five double-taps just to see how far you can get. Then, utilize all the power-ups you want. You'll already be hooked, and once you're addicted it's just about getting that next fix, that next high score. Now pardon me, I have a high score to beat.
