After a successful game giveaway this Sunday I though I’d post the free game Bloxorz, which it seems was used as a precursor for the Last Conundrum of Da Vinci Deluxe; (according to Nitram who posted a comment late this morning confirming that levels from around level 35 onwards are direct rip off’s from Bloxorz). Unless the developers are the same I do feel that that is rather cheeky, unless there is some acknowledgment somewhere. The developer of Stopple sought and obtained permission to use the basic form of the game. Still, the developer has improved the look of the game somewhat. Anyway, for those who missed the post by Nitram and Ben, both of whom mentioned the freeware game in the game giveaway comments section, I though it would be a good idea to post it in the freeware games project. As an added bonus for those who like this type of puzzle I’ve included another similar game called Stopple that was originally posted by freeware fan back in February 2008
Bloxorz 1: (4Mb)
1. The aim of the game is to get the block to fall into the square hole at the end of each stage. There are 33 stages to complete.
2. To move the block around the world, use the left, right, up and down arrow keys. Be careful not to fall off the edges. The level will be restarted if this happens.
3. Bridges and switches are located in many levels. The switches are activated when they are pressed down by the block. You do not need to stay resting on the switch to keep bridges closed.
4. There are two types of switches: "Heavy" x-shaped ones and "soft" octagon ones... Soft switches (octagons) are activated when any part of your block presses it. Hard switches (x's) require much more pressure, so your block must be standing on its end to activate them.
5. When activated, each switch may behave differently. Some will swap the bridges from open to closed to open each time it is used. Some will create bridges permanently. Green or red colored squares will flash to indicate which bridges are being operated.
6. Orange tiles are more fragile than the rest of the land. If your block stands up vertically on an orange tile, the tile will give way and your block will fall through.
7. Finally, there is a third type of switch shaped like this: ( ) It teleports your block to different locations, splitting it into two smaller blocks at the same time. These can be controlled individually and will rejoin into a normal block when both are places next to each other.
8. You can select which small block to use at any time by pressing the spacebar. Small blocks can still operate soft switches, but they aren't big enough to activate heavy switches. Also, small blocks cannot go through the exit hole -- only a complete block can finish the stage.
9. Remember the passcode for each stage. It is located in the top right corner. You can skip straight back to each stage later on by going to "Load Stage" in the main menu and entering the 6 digit level code.
Video:
You can watch a video of Bloxorz game play HERE
Download:
The developers site is HERE, by clicking on the images you are taken to browser versions of both bloxorz 1 and 2; however you can also download Bloxorz 1 HERE
You can find the Browser version of bloxorz HERE
Stopple: (8.1Mb)
Stopple is a free 3D puzzle game (for PCs) by Indie developer Boiled Sweets. The game is based (with permission) on a well known flash game called Bloxorz.
Game play involves rolling a block around on a level to get it through the exit hole and manipulating switches along the way – plus you mustn’t roll off into the weird psychedelic backgrounds. It’s very addictive and well presented.! Stopple should keep you amused for hours whilst you try and solve each of the 33 levels; an ideal compliment to your coffee break. :)
The following is my review of the game which I wrote to complement Freeware fans posting of the game:
Installation:
Todays zip file weighs in at a mere 8.06Mb, and when installed is 8.82Mb, so if you’re worried about filling your HDD, don’t as this is a very small file size (which in no way implies that the game is poor graphically). The installer allows you to deselect the installation of a start menu shortcut if you wish as well as choose to install a quick start short cut. By default, both the start menu shrtcuts and a desktop shortcut are installed. The installation path is the usual C:\program files\Stopple, but you can change this to keep your boot drive free of everything but the essential stuff if you wish.
There’s an uninstaller provided which is accessible from the start menu or from within the games folder. All in all this is a very professional package.
Introduction & Game info:
On starting the game you are presented with a configuration window where you are able to adjust the visual side of the game by selecting the most appropriate screen resolution for your monitor as well as the color depth, dithering (* see notes below for a simple explanation), and a toggle for windowed mode. There is a simple tutorial found on the main menu screen of which there are 10 -11 pages, that explain the mechanics of the game, so I wont bore you with even a précis of that. :) It’s keyboard controlled, which is unfortunate for those who dislike keyboard controls. However, apart from some keys (mainly the function keys, that are used to control the background, which is really bright; you can change the opacity using F3, as well as music and sound effects toggles) the only other keys you need to bother about are the movement keys which are quite naturally (for me being a left hander) the arrow keys.
There are switches and bridges to enable you to move from one platform to the next, but it’s not as easy as you think to switch these on or cross the bridges unless you’re in the correct orientation. In later levels you will find wooden platforms that cannot be crossed by full sized bricks. Thankfully when using the teleport switch, the block you are moving is split into two smaller blocks that are not as heavy. This however can have a down side as to used the heavy switch (denoted as an X), you need a full sized block to operate it. Besides the teleport and heavy switches there’s also soft switches that only require touching to work, which is useful when you find it difficult to maneuver your blocks on some of the harder levels. The aim of this 3D (isometric ) game is to get the blocks to fall into the square holes at the end of each level, within a specific time. There are 32 levels.
Follow the links to see the screen captures I took. They are mainly of the help pages and a series of images I took showing the gradual movement of one block in level 2. You will get a better idea of the background images by going to the developers site.
All on one page:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/FREEWARE/Stopple/?start=all
As a slideshow:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/FREEWARE/Stopple/?albumview=slideshow
Features:
Here are the features as quoted on the developer’s home page for this particular game:
• Groovy music!
• 32 original psychedelic backgrounds!
• Ability to take screen shots!
• Ability to resume your game!
• Play against the clock!
• Supports full screen and windowed modes
• Supports laptop & widescreen formats (16:9, 16:9.5, 16:10) and regular ratios (4:3, 5:4)
• Install / uninstall support!
• Free updates
Conclusion:
This is an excellent Freeware game (IMO)that has many features of its commercial brothers. I am impressed with the overall presentation of this game, and found the game play challenging and fun enough to want to continue. I would score it 7 out of 10 for game play, though I think it’s replay value is probably low once you’ve completed the game as there are no difficulty levels and no bonuses in game to make the game more interesting. For a freeware game though this is well worth the download. I haven't see many freeware games of this caliber.
I would love to see a level editor for this game as then you could make as many levels as you wished. Maybe I’ll post a commet over on the developers site and suggest this.
Download:
You can download Stopple HERE
Finally, if you did miss this Sunday's game (Last Conundrum of Da Vinci Deluxe), you can download the none deluxe version for free from MyPlayCity. In fact I think the version from MyPlayCity is better because it doesn't have those annoying arrows that shoot out in four directions on every level (though you do lose the ability to use the mouse to move the blocks; (I think).
