When you take a 2D block game into the third dimension, do you still have a winning game? Ewan finds out in his review of Blockfest by Arctica.

Blockfest is a pretty standard format of a puzzle game. There are blocks that you can throw on top of other blocks; match up a group of coloured blocks and they all disappear. The blocks are slowly being pushed towards, which adds in a time limit issue; and you have to score as much as possible.

All pretty standard so far, but unlike others, in which blocks descend from the top of the screen onto a grid, Blockfest switches your viewpoint. You’re in a 3D world, looking into the grid. Laid out flat before you, all you can see are the tops of the stacks, and the tile you are about to throw down.

This is a pretty interesting viewpoint. By restricting the information available to the player, it changes the game completely from one of planning ahead to one of remembering where you threw your blocks. Congratulations go to developers Artica on finding a new angle to this genre (Groan - Ed). However, after the smart graphics and learning the available controls, there’s not much else to Blockfest. Talking of controls, you can use the number pad, tilt the device left and right, or simply swipe with your finger to decide where to aim your current block.

In fact, after spending a few games building a strategy and trying to play smart, I got bored and started just firing blocks into the same place, as fast as I could. Guess what – I scored more than when I tried planning ahead; and this totally blew my confidence in the game. When just slamming the drop key is more successful than working out what could be done, there is something seriously wrong with the game mechanics on offer.

There is no question that Blockfest looks impressive on the handset, although there is still something a bit cartoonish about the design of the bricks. The controls are adequate – there’s not much that can go wrong with left, right and fire. There is a nice idea for a game somewhere in all of this. However, once the technical demo was finished, it felt like the game idea was left on the shelf.

Blockfest is cute, but ultimately it’s an unsatisfying experience.

-- Ewan Spence, Aug 2010.