Experience Tetris In A New Way With Brix
Brix ($0.99) by Blueonionsoft, Corp. may be another Tetris clone, but at least it brings some new features to the table.
The game offers two ways to play: classic -- the gameplay that anyone who’s played Tetris will recognize -- or action mode, where you’ll need to clear 10 block lines as fast as possible. Action mode will start you with a set up of some pieces already in place, and the difficulty increases as you progress through 80 levels.
While the overall game is similar to Tetris, the first noticeable difference is that a “ghost” of the falling piece will show exactly where it will land; kind of like a laser sight for blocks. Another difference is that the pieces in Brix are not one-to-one replicas of the original Tetris pieces. One piece happens to be a single block, while the other pieces mostly have a block jutting out on a diagonal.
The “hold” option is perhaps the most unique change in gameplay. Before a piece lands, you can tap the hold box and the piece will be held there, replaced by another piece. After another piece has landed, you are allowed to swap out your held piece with the newest incoming piece. This can be a nice way to bank a piece you know you’ll need later.
Moving the pieces can either be done using the arrow controls at the bottom of the screen, or by gesture control. I found using the arrows a much smoother experience than using touch. The pieces didn’t feel responsive enough when I slid them with my finger.
This game is heavily influenced by Tetris, but it does offer enough variations to make it more unique than other similar iOS games.
