I was filtering through my e-mail the other day, marking 90% of the crap that poured in as junk, when I noticed something I hadn’t seen yet: AN ACTUAL REQUEST TO REVIEW A GAME!!!!!

Not just a simple request from a fan either, but a full-fledged press release. Apparently, someone thinks our opinions MATTER!

Anyway, before I get into the review, I think it’s worth posting the actual press release as it gives us some great insight as to what Orama Technologies was hoping to accomplish with their new game, Blokkos.

Orama Technologies releases Blokkos

Orama Technologies has announced the official release of its latest game, titled Blokkos. The game is currently available in a free web version, with commercial versions for mobile phones scheduled for release during the remainder of the month.

Blokkos is a puzzle game, aimed at the mobile and web platforms. The objective behind it was to create an addictive game, which would fit both platforms and appeal to a wide group of players. The web version is now available to be played for free at http://blokkos.oramatechnologies.com. The game will also be released for mobile phones, in both commercial and free ad-supported versions.

“I’m quite happy with the final result on Blokkos and the initial feedback we’ve received is extremely promising. Both casual players and gamers find it fun and addictive and the comments we receive also indicate that it was successful in being a family-oriented game: both parents and sons are playing and enjoying it.”, said Pedro Amaro, the lead developer for Blokkos. “This is definitely a game I’m proud of”, he added.

Blokkos was created under Orama Technologies’ typical virtual team development method, with elements from three continents – Europe (Pedro Amaro: Game design and programming), North America (Paul David Bergel: sounds and music) and Asia (Iris Kwan: graphics). According to Pedro Amaro, the team’s mixed cultural background helped in making Blokkos appealing to a larger audience and made working in this game a more rewarding experience.

Since Orama took the time to include us in this press release, I figured the least I could do was really dive into the game and give it the best review I could.

The art on this game is kind of average. The puzzle blocks are pretty standard, but the background and character art isn’t exactly breathtaking. For a game that is intended to reach a wide and mixed audience, the presentation really is only going to appeal to girls and little kids.

The music isn’t too bad for a puzzle game, but considering they are hoping to push multi-format versions of this game I really hope they have more than one music track because after so long you really get sick of hearing it.

The sounds are as average as the art, with pitch shifted voice clips that have the same kiddie cartoon appeal as the art does. These start to get very annoying after a while since the characters only have like 3 or 4 phrases each.

Blokkos impressed me by being unlike any puzzle games I have ever played (That’s not to say that there isn’t any other games like this, I just haven’t seen them). The “color matching to clear blocks” is familiar enough that anyone who’s played a modern puzzler can pick it up right away, but the gameplay itself is pretty innovative.

You start each level with a stackof colored blocks on top of a hollow tube type thing. Using a magnet you can pull any block from the left side and it will slide into the tube. If you fill the tube with one single color, the blocks will be cleared, otherwise your mis-matched row will rise and the whole stack will shift up a level. The goal then, is to keep the stack from hitting the top of the game screen, and to clear all the blocks before your time meter is depleted.

Sounds easy right? Well…. it is. The game doesn’t even BEGIN to be challenging until about 4 levels in, so a lot of casual players may get bored by the lack of challenge and quit playing before they get to the real fun levels. The simplicity of early levels and the sluggish decay of the time meter don’t relay any sense of urgency to complete early levels. Again this simplicity is going to appeal to kids, so it seems like the goal Orama had of reaching a big audience may be a bit of a stretch. Unless of course they meant a big audience of 10-year-olds.

If you overlook the kiddie art, mute the sounds, and put at least 30 minutes into the game, Blokkos is really quite fun. Make sure to write down your passwords so after you get through the lame beginner levels you can just START playing at the fun part.

[ Play Blokkos ]