tetris from the dev behind one of my favorite nonograms, [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1158470]voxelgram[/url]. instead of matching colors disappearing when 3 or more connect, they merge into bigger numbers. not mathematically but 2+2+2 (also 2+2+2+2+etc.) will turn into a single block of 3, and so on. if 10s are matched, they simply disappear. combos are a thing, broken by not creating a match that turn. as soon as a block lands in the top 2 rows, it's game over.
no timer, in fact, [b]no gravity either, blocks stay on top until you drop them[/b], so it's more puzzly, less twitchy arcade, great news for me. blocks aren't glued together though, so if one half falls over a gap, it will fill it. a single piece can be held for later, so it's like freecell and merge match-3 with numbers but also tetris without falling blocks. a curious mix that works well.
the various [b]unexplained game modes[/b] are standard, special mode, fast, 100 moves, 200 moves and 400 moves. some are self-explanatory but there's room on the screen, might as well inform the player. [b]special mode has power-ups[/b], also unexplained, gotta try them all (unmatchable block, joker, remove a few vertical or horizontal neighbors, etc.). fast is not fast at all, it's just a standard game on a smaller board, so quick or some other adjective would've been a better name. the rest ends after you run out of moves but most likely before. only drops count, rotations and movement don't.
[b]the store page mentions leaderboards but only your high score and position in a game mode is visible in-game.[/b] should be the real thing with filters for friends, local and global, don't make people go checking the competition outside the game. standard is called endless there, fast is tiny endless, which are also better names than the in-game ones. a much bigger shortcoming, especially with games potentially lasting a while, is [b]not saving mid-run progress on exit[/b]. and the game over screen doesn't have a retry option, only continue that leads to the main menu.
simple graphics, pretty good music, settings almost cover the basics. resolutions, windowed mode, languages, separate volumes, but [b]controls aren't rebindable[/b] and aren't shown anywhere in the menu, only after starting a game, and even then only one set, [b]alternatives are undocumented[/b]. a/d to move left/right, space to drop, w to rotate, x to hold. arrows aren't mentioned but work as expected, not sure about an alternative for hold. [b]score display is 123456, no dividers, hard to read.[/b] achievements are spammy but half will be done during the first game and the rest takes more effort.
it's good stuff, the 2.85 eur price tag ain't bad either and [b]there's a demo[/b], but missing basic functionality means it can't be recommended. based on voxelgram it should be fixed up at some point and I'll gladly flip the review to a thumbs up.
