Tetris Infested, Turned On Its Head In Snail Fail
Snail Fail (Free) by Artefact Games provides a unique mix of escargot and cargo boxes. Even more, it combines the two in a Tetris-like game.
Just about everyone knows how to play Tetris, and a lot of developers have provided a different take on it. Games like FLUXE: Pop Droppin’ Blocks, and Slydris are examples of this.
While slight modifications have been made, Snail Fail takes the changes further.
The game only uses “L” shaped blocks, instead of a variety of shapes. But the kicker is that the L isn’t always just blocks. In addition to the blocks, or boxes, are also (you guessed it) snails.
Obviously, the boxes will disappear once you line them all up in a row, but the snails aren’t so simple. It doesn’t matter how much you line them up or stack them on top of each other, they’re not going anywhere.
They just sit there, staring dumbly at you with their eyes on top of their tentacles.
That is, until you drop a buzz saw on them. Or a weight. Or a bomb. The different weapons act in different ways, but they all take care of the snails, allowing you to continue on your merry block-dropping way.
Another interesting aspect about the snails is that they don’t behave the same way boxes do when they drop.
The snails will actually slide away from box they might have fallen with, as long as they have the space to do so. In other words, they’ll keep going until they finally plop down somewhere.
This adds an extra dimension of calculation on your part because you not only need to figure out where to drop the shapes, but also how they will finally end up if they are combined with snails.
Gameplay moves at a snail’s pace (pun intended. Huh? Huh? Pretty good, no? No? Okay, back to the review.). I’m not sure if the slowness is meant to mimic the snails, or if it’s just how the game was developed, but I do know that the lack of speed is a little trying.
This is definitely a fun game that any Tetris fan should pick up. The price is certainly right. Just make sure you have some time because the game might take a while.
