Blocksplode

I think we can all agree that explosions are awesome. They are the reason why everybody crowds around to watch a building be demolished and they're basically the only reason Michael Bay has a career. As long as we're not standing right next to one, explosions are both satisfying and cathartic. This axiom is the main selling point for Blocksplode, a new game that puts you in control of planting dynamite and blowing things up real good. It's not the deepest game you'll play this year and can be incredibly frustrating at times, but after the month I've had, I needed a game that was nothing but explosions.

Like all good puzzle games, Blocksplode is incredibly easy to describe: The goal is to place packs of dynamite around a structure in an effort to drop all of the pieces into the water below. Sometimes you'll have one pack and other times it will be three or more, but the object is always the same -- submerge as much of the structure as you possibly can. Sound simple, right?

As I'm sure you've already figured out, there are a few things that complicate matters. For one thing, there are these blue cube characters with faces and emotions who you absolutely must sink in order to complete the level. If even one of these blocks is left dry, then it won't matter how many pieces you managed to drop into the water. You'll also find that certain levels have gems laying around. Unlike the blue cubes, these multi-sided gems cannot hit the water. That's not an easy task, especially when you get a load of the crazy level designs.

This is the kind of puzzle game that starts out simple enough, but quickly cranks up the difficulty. You'll go from bombing wooden blocks to dealing with structures made out of resistant rubber. Sometimes the blocks will be scattered around or need to be toppled like a row of dominos. And even simple stages can be punishingly difficult when you're asked to submerge seventy or eighty percent of the blocks. There are more than ninety stages in all, with many of them requiring you to test dozens of different dynamite placements before you get it right. Remember, not only are you at the whim of the explosions, but also the physics of the dropping blocks and swaying structures.

I cannot stress enough how important good placement can be. This is especially true when you only have one or two dynamite packs to drop. It's also important to remember that you don't get to control when each pack explodes. All you can do is drop the dynamite in the numbered order you want and sit back and watch as they blow up one after another. The game would have been so much easier if you could explode one pack and then place more after the fact, but that's not how it works. You have to be mindful of the order and timing if you want to complete most of these bite-sized stages.

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As you work your way up the multi-path tower, you'll run into a few key stages. These play out differently from the rest of the levels, as they don't require you to bomb structures or sink blocks. One of these stages will have you fishing with dynamite, while another will have you matching blocks while avoiding bombs. This is not all that different from the Minesweeper-style levels, where the goal is to carefully avoid bombs while drawing a line from one star to the next. All of these stages are repeated more than once, and none of them are as much fun as the standard destruction missions.

Speaking of things that aren't as much fun as the regular stages, there's a golf mini-game that you'll eventually unlock by climbing the tower. Unlike the regular levels, the goal here is to use a bomb to propel the gem from one part of the level to the next, with the ultimate goal of sending it flying into the hole. This mode is ... fine. It's better than a lot of the key missions I mentioned a moment ago, but it's a big step down from blowing up structures.

Sadly, that's a trend that continues in the multiplayer mode. I suppose I should commend first-time developer North Star for adding both online and offline multiplayer to Blocksplode. You would think that offering more than ninety stages to complete would be enough, so it's nice to see them go one step further and take a stab at four-player modes. Unfortunately, these competitive games are mostly lame. Most are variations on the key stages found in the single-player tower, but the most fun one is a slight tweak on pool. You take turns dropping bombs to push colored marbles into the pockets, which is an activity that gets old fast. Clearly, this is not the draw.

As a simple puzzle game about demolishing structures, Blocksplode gets pretty much everything right. It's a hard game to criticize, because it succeeds at exactly the one thing it's trying to accomplish. It can be frustrating and the physics are not always consistent, but that's par for the course when it comes to these types of games. And while it's not the kind of puzzler that will stick with me for years to come, I would be lying if I said I didn't have fun and enjoy the calming tropical settings. Blocksplode is an easy game to recommend, assuming you have a craving for blowing things up.