Puzzle me this!
It's really quite staggering that such a simple game as Tetris is still seeing what are effectively remakes and updates to this day and age. There's been a huge number of games which have followed in its footsteps over the years, from Columns to Lemris, all the way up to this more modern take on the genre. Fortunately, this one retains the essential simplicity and elegance of its inspiration while also proving to be just as addictive, making it a great choice for puzzle fans. The basic concept here is quite similar, with the objective being to place falling blocks of varying colors with other blocks of the same color. Making matches wipes them clean and allows you to keep going while racking up the points. There's a timeline crossing the board as you play and the more matches you make before they're wiped out by the line, the more points you get. There's also a puzzle mode to try out which requires you to create various shapes which are defined by the level while there are also skins to collect and which change the appearance of the game. Lumines doesn't really bring a whole heap of new elements to the table but there's something about the concept which is almost endlessly appealing and fortunately it's all very well executed here. The gameplay is as fascinatingly addictive as it ever was and there's a depth to the strategy here which only serves to make it even more so. It's very easy to get into a zen-like state here so although you might only intend to play for a few minutes, this is one that's likely to eat up your time.
