Bloks
Review

Bloks (2020) is a strategy puzzle game where you place Tetris-style blocks to construct a planet. You place different elements and land so that you can create humans and build them a spaceship. A unique combination of Tetris-style block puzzle, element creation game Little Alchemy, and a civilization building simulation game.

Just like Tetris, blocks descend from above and must be placed into your grid. Unlike Tetris, the blocks are different materials with unique properties. Some flatten out as they land while others combine with what they land on to create new elements which are then added back into the queue of blocks.

The challenges is to combine different elements together to create the substances you need to build up land and seas. Create a full line and you get DNA which allows you to create human life. You then need to make sure your humans have food to eat by creating soil from mud and minerals, made of water and sand and lava. Also, try not to drop lava on their heads. As you progress you steadily create more diverse objects until your humans are advanced enough to make a spaceship and leave.

The result is an unusual mixture of games. It is almost as if the developers pulled three game types out of a hat and challenged themselves to make a game combining them. Somehow though, it works and makes for a challenging puzzle, strategy, god game that looks like Tetris, feels like Tetris, but is definitely not Tetris.

Our examiner, Andrea Walney, first checked Bloks (Sokpop) 22 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 14 months ago.