I have played quite a few block sliders and am enjoying this one the most so far. The presentation is beautiful, each level feels unique, and the illumination goal is brilliant. They have not gotten very challenging, but I am only on chapter two so I expect that to change. As for Cross Fingers, I would say Blockwick is a more traditional block slider than that one. If you don't enjoy traditional block sliders to begin with, you might not enjoy this one.
The more I play this game, the more I grow to like the game. This is because, unlike so many other sliding tile puzzle games, the developer has added some very interesting new mechanics that put a great twist to the otherwise tired sliding mechanics. The sleeping blocks and sticky blocks are two great examples of mechanics that really add to the complexity of the puzzles which I found to be most surprising. The only caveat is that puzzles with these two block types can be put into a dead-end state in which it is impossible to reverse and thus requiring a restart. This is an important property because "traditional" sliding tile puzzles are reversible and always solvable (provided a solution actually exists) no matter how scrambled the tiles have become. 7-16 is super clever.
How do you unstick blocks? Just by wedging them into the wall? I am finding the way to manipulate the sticky blocks rather difficult. The game is awesome though otherwise!!
Yup, 7-16 is a fun one! I'm not, however, very fond of the next world. I don't particularly like the 'dice' blocks. It feels as though getting the right side isn't a matter of skill or getting the other blocks in the right configuration, just a load of trial and error. My favorite levels from world nine are 9-7 and 9-9. World 10 is just evil -_-
When a block is placed next to a sticky block, you will see 'joins' form between the blocks. When you move the block, the sticky block will always attempt to move with it, unless it cannot, in which case the block you are moving will disconnect itself. Easiest ways to get rid of a sticky block: have it offset to the side from you, and 'hook' it on a static block and move directly away from it. Wedge it in a tight space, and move sideways off it. Joins do not form until you let your finger go.
Wow! That is amazing! How did you manage to work through the game so quickly? I am impressed. I am only in World 9. Getting all the illuminations for each level before moving on takes quite a bit of time. I am slow... You are the wizard of Blockwick! I wonder if AppUnwrapper may want to write this up as a walkthrough. Seems to be an ideal challenge for AppUnwrapper. One big worry I have about this game (in perhaps World 10) is that the developer would stop trying to create "clever" puzzles and instead shift to create overly complex but tedious puzzles that require too many steps to solve in order to ramp up the difficulty. If such is true, it would be truly disappointing. This is because sliding tile puzzle game is a type of games for which it is trivially easy to create extraordinary complicated and tedious puzzles. Because positions of the solving tiles and the glyphs can be entirely arbitrary, one can create a level by just randomly moving blocks around, changing the perimeters as need until some random configuration is achieved and then mark it as the puzzle. One then only needs to backtrack to see if there is an alternate shortcut solution (this can be done by using an auto-solver). Puzzles created this way are no fun to solve because they often lack cleverness, just like all of those auto-generated Sokoban puzzles that are just tedious (as compared to curated handcrafted ones).
As a fan of the Kieffer Bros. games and particularly Blockwick, it is very exciting to see all the discussion of Blockwick 2 here. I am close to done with world 5 and savoring every level. The second challenge of illumination really raises this a cut above the original.
Thanks for the tips. I have four more levels of this awful world to go! Looking forward to the hell of the next one!!
What's the illumination challenge??? I am only just starting in world 1 but haven't seen a second challenge for any of the levels...
@Mess: Yes, it's quite cleverly hidden. I would say that working out what the illumination challenge requires is a bit of a 'meta-puzzle' in itself... If you really want to know you can PM me (I don't know how to use spoiler tags!) @y2kmp3: Hahaha, I wish I was that good at this game. Quite the contrary, I find it quite difficult. I had the pleasure of being a beta-tester for this game though, so I've had quiiiiite a lot more time to work through the game! I'm not ashamed to say that I don't have illumination on all of them, and there are a few that I have skipped Regarding your concerns, there are the occasional few 'exercises in tedium' levels, but on the whole they're generally quite nicely designed, and every world has a couple of standout puzzles that are really really clever. Most of the time, even if the puzzle itself is tedious, the illumination challenge will be quite clever though . My hate for the 'dice' levels has not lessened though. 'Only' on world 9? That's the second last world! But the difficulty of world 9 and 10 are exponentially harder than the others, especially those darn glyphs! But you'll be surprised, while worlds 9 and 10 have some of the most difficult puzzles, they also contain some of the most fun and surprising ones. World 10 in particular has a lot of memorable moments!
@greatescaper - thanks. I am saving playing his as I am on a trip this week, and I want something to do . Will have to investigate then edit - Got IT
Hi, TheGreatEscaper, Thanks for the advice. I am trying to work through the game level by level without skipping a level but also getting illumination for each level before moving on. I have finished all of the puzzles in the main campaign (World 1 to World 9) and am about halfway in World 10. Agree with you that this is a very taxing puzzle game. Also agree with you that the rolling dice tiles can be a challenge. Sometimes, I lost track of the rolling paths when I needed to roll "backward" in order to make sure that the wanted colored tile would be in position. Often, I have found it helpful to just roll around until I get the colors I want and then form the rest of the non-dice tiles around the dice tiles (rather than the other way around). For me, I actually found the sticky blocks and the hypno blocks to be a pain to deal with because you can lock yourself into a dead-end state if you do not manipulate those tiles correctly so that the essential tiles are either all locked together in an unwanted position without a way to unlock them or all gone to sleep without a way to awake them.
Just finished game. All 10 worlds; all 16 puzzles each world; all illuminations. Here is the screenshot: Very impressed with the game and very surprised by how well the new mechanics add a twist to otherwise familiar gameplay. Truly best of class for a sliding tile puzzle game. Many of the later puzzles are mind-numbing difficult. I like that the developer has wisely chosen to focus on creating "clever" puzzles rather than "tedious" puzzles. A few puzzles appear impossible at first glance and are very satisfying to solve once one can visualize the solutions. This game is not for beginners. Majority of the puzzles are at least moderate in difficulty. Many levels can be solved in multiple ways (even with illuminations), though the solutions often vary widely in efficiency. Highly recommended.
Been playing this for a few days. Man it is good. World class. You brothers know your stuff. And the art style is amazing too.
Congrats y2. Impressive. I find the puzzles with lots of blocks to be somewhat tedious. The ones that are challenging fun have just a few blocks, but very limited space so the solution needs to be clever rather thhan hunt and peck. However, being a fan of these types of puzzles i am having fun doing a few each day.
