Coming a few months after Link-a-Pix Color, Block-a-Pix Color is Lightwood Games’s latest puzzle game for the Nintendo 3DS. That’s three games in this little series of eShop titles. Fortunately, the games prove to do their formulas justice, and Block-a-Pix is no exception to the unspoken rule.
Graphics
This game looks almost exactly like the last one, so I imagine all three games share the same basic visual style. There’s no expecting any major change-ups from one to the next, for better or for worse. Revealing what the image is at the top screen remains a satisfactory reward for clearing parts of a puzzle.
Audio
The 8-Bit music used here is different, but again, only one piece plays throughout the duration of the Block-a-Pix Color. It’s still a relaxing composition, and the sound design is generally soft on the ears. Nothing bad, but nothing making an impact.
Gameplay
Block-a-Pix plays similarly to the last game; you color the screen strategically according to the numbers that certain colors apply to. This time, you create quadrilateral shapes rather than mere lines. You manipulate them by dragging the sides with the stylus so they can cover more or less of the picture.
What’s interesting about this mechanic is that the solutions are not as obvious as the line-connecting style of play in Link-a-Pix Color was. The challenge is more prominent, making the “Eureka!” moments a bit more satisfying this time around. The challenge doesn’t necessarily pick up to a drastic degree, but the puzzles get larger as they go on, making for there to be more and more ways for you to miscalculate a stylus stroke. And as per usual, there’s a large quantity of puzzles, with a lot of the puzzles themselves being solid time sinks.
Verdict
This all makes for another stellar puzzler on the 3DS. It’s packed with puzzles, and the puzzles are fun to solve. It’s best played from a casual perspective in which you solve a few at a time, but I’m sure that’s the intention. If you haven’t already sunk your teeth into some grid-based puzzles, you could probably get started with Block-a-Pix.
Review copy provided by Lightwood Games
