Classic head scratching fun
If you're a Sokoban-loving puzzle fan, then Block-O-Mania will be right up your alley, delivering as it does some inventively challenging head scratching fun. It's simple enough in concept but fiendishly difficult in execution so if you are looking for something to stretch the old grey cells, this makes for perfect entertainment. The player is presented with a simple top down view of a maze-like level and is charged with pushing around blocks of varying kinds in order to complete the stage. It might sound straightforward enough but when you throw in conveyors, unstable sections and weird wraparound screens, it all becomes horribly complicated very quickly and it's all too easy to mess up a level with one wrong move. This really is a game which suits the thoughtful strategist, the kind of person who plans their moves and enjoys figuring things out in advance. If you go in all guns blazing, you're likely to go wrong with alarming ease, but if you enjoy things like Boulderdash, then you'll find much to entertain you here. The visuals are of course extremely simple, being little more than 2D representations of blocks and the like but the star of the show is the gameplay and that is simple but extremely elegant. The many levels are well designed, with some truly challenging gems to figure out with the best of your ability and it's likely even hardened veterans of this kind of thing will find this difficult. Don't let this put you off though, as there is nothing more satisfying than solving a particularly testing level and for this reason alone, Block-O-Mania is well worth a look.
