Hello there,
The spin gave me Clickr.
It's an interesting puzzle game. I clocked about 1.5 hours into it, and it strikes me as a fairly original and addictive puzzle. I don't have a great deal of experience in such games, but basically it reminds a sort of Columns (and a ton more of similar titles), where the player has to kill the smaller squares to make the others slide down, and build big squares 2x2 to be then popped. Popping big square after big square triggers the combo, which gives a score multiplier – the longer the combo, the higher the multiplier (d'oh!).
The most original twist is that the board can, and really should be rotated as much as possible: this is because squares made by rotating the board and letting the small tiles fall add a 2x point bonus to the popping.
Then, it's the same deal as in all other puzzle games – the bigger are the color combinations one pops, the higher the score.
There are several unlockable game modes. So far, I tried the first one (puzzle mode) and unlocked a couple others, battle and push.
Puzzle mode has 50 stages, each requiring a specific target (make 7 combos in 30 secs, make 3000 points in 1 minute, etc) that requires different strategies. I am now stuck at stage 21, which is incredibly difficult and in fact has several threads around the web.
Push mode is a duel vs the computer: by making combos and popping squares, the player pushes big color blocks in the opponent's pit, with the aim of overwhelming it.
I can't say anything about the others, but there is a multiplayer mode that should be some sort of duel, similar to push, or battle which I don't know. I fear the IQ mode, because the others as well are not so IQ-less.
The graphics are what one would expect from a little indie puzzle: very blocky and worse than, say... Pang. The music is also pretty obnoxious. Others seem to like both, though. But the game...The game itself is sadistic, and encourages quick thinking and even quicker mashing on the mouse and on the two board rotation buttons: its rythm is nothing short of EXTREME.
Very, very, very solid, and well thought. I can only compare it with a few other, nameless puzzle games I had a glancing touch at, and it sure belongs to another league. It is exhausting, and does not call for long sessions.
I read some reviews, after writing mine. The feedback is strongly positive, I learnt that these squares are called blocks, and I wish to point out what a disgruntled reviewer said: for a casual game, it's NOT so casual. It requires thinking, and a lot of it, stage after stage.
What to say, thank-you again Asininity. I think that after all I am better off with this, than with another shooter. I will surely fire it up from time to time.
I'll be copy-pasting this review also on Steam, for what Steam score is worth.
Cheers
Matt
