Last year, a clever Tetris-inspired puzzler from developer Uovo called Shades: A Simple Puzzle Game ($1.99) was released in the App Store. It was a bit rough around the edges at first and initially it flew under the radar, but a steady stream of updates and improvements helped put it on the map and brought it to our own attention when we reviewed it in April of this year. Besides the tried and true “fit falling blocks together to clear rows" formula that Tetris popularized decades ago, the thing that made Shades stand out, as its name alluded to, was the ability to combine various shades of colored blocks to create one same shaded row or rows to clear. It was a neat take on the formula, and Uvovo is going back to that mechanic with their follow-up title Black Boxes. The easiest way to explain Black Boxes is that it’s the same shade-combining of Shades but in a match-3 style game. Check out the trailer.
I really enjoyed the shade-combining in Shades as it draws from a different part of my brain than simply trying to recognize shapes or symbols. I’m hoping Black Boxes tickles that part of my brain again but in a match-3 type of way. Despite match-3s being so commonplace I still always feel there’s ways to improve upon them or put a twist on things, and the color blending hook of Black Boxes could be just the thing to make it stand out. Black Boxes is set for release on December 2nd, and if you’ve never checked out Shades before and you’re a fan of Tetris-like games I’d definitely suggest giving the free version a try.
