Game Reviews

Blockwick 2

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iOS
| Blockwick 2
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Blockwick 2
|
iOS
| Blockwick 2

Blockwick 2 is all about sliding blocks around. If you don't like that kind of game, you should stop reading, because you're probably not going to like this one.

If you are a big fan of block-sliding, however, Blockwick 2 may well smear a huge grin across your face.

First and foremost, this game is gorgeous, with an elegance and aesthetic that feels thoroughly modern and light, yet the subtle 3D board still lends the blocks tactility.

The game works in portrait or landscape, and boasts unerring responsiveness. As you drag blocks about, a pleasing noodly ambient soundtrack warbles away.

As for the puzzles, they start out much as you'd expect, with you shifting coloured blocks about, in order to group them. Initially your main obstacles are white blocks and jagged play-area boundaries.

As you progress through each level set, new block types open up. There are branded blocks that move as one, sleeping blocks that wake when touched by kin, and sticky blocks that cling on until 'wiped' against a wall.

Blockwork

These new block types are unlocked slowly, with only one new arrival per set of 16 levels. There's a smattering of mix-and-match as you work your way through the game. But only late on is there any real surprise in terms of the kind of level you're attacking when the rigid structure is relaxed a little.

Fortunately, most block types propel Blockwick beyond its contemporaries in terms of depth, character and interest, even if they aren't all a success.

Levels boasting caterpillar-like strings of blocks are glorious; those with trundling dice-like blocks with different colours on each face, less so.

Should you want to smash your brains out with a brick, each level offers a sterner test where, on completion, coloured blocks must cover symbols placed strategically on the board.

If you get stuck, you can skip a level by locating a hidden pearl - a piece of gating that may have seemed cute at the time of creation, but that proves unnecessary and irritating in practice.

Blockwick 2

Visually smart and with at least a little imagination, Blockwick 2 is the best sliding-block game around - although that still amounts to only a good iOS game
Score
Craig Grannell
Craig Grannell
Craig gets all confused with modern games systems with a million buttons, hence preferring the glass-surfaced delights of mobile devices. He spends much of his time swiping and tilting (sometimes actually with a device), and also mulling why no-one’s converted Cannon Fodder to iPad.