Pullblox was a deceptively simple puzzle game for Nintendo’s handheld 3DS, its plump little hero walking up to irregularly shaped blocks and either pulling them forwards or pushing them backwards in order to form stairs towards a flag perched at the top of each puzzle. Fullblox sticks with this formula, but adds the ability to stretch blocks sideways, along with enemies who can harm you but can also be hopped on and used as moving step ladders to reach otherwise inaccessible blocks. In typical Nintendo style, it’s polished to perfection, wringing astounding ingenuity from a simple premise and dressing it all up in charming, childlike trappings. Its introductory portion is free, and packs of new levels range from £2.69 to £4.49, with the whole game available for a very reasonable £8.99. Along with levels made by Nintendo, which include one nostalgic tranche based on characters and settings from its ancient back catalogue, you can also use the Fullblox Studio to build your own puzzles and play other people’s, a feature that’s unlocked as soon as you’ve spent any money. Cheerful, fun and incredibly taxing, Fullblox is a solidly constructed and subtle set of challenges.
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Ether One, PS4
Set partly in Cornwall and partly in the futuristic Ether Institute, this is a game about helping a woman with dementia by diving into her fractured memories. Played in first person, you glide around its sterile, people-free environments in search of clues and useful-looking items. With no preamble and only a strangely listless-sounding voiceover from your manager at the institute, you’re dumped into a mystery that takes quite some piecing together as you work to solve puzzles that vary between simple and wildly abstruse. With no guidance whatsoever, you’ll often be left wandering about trying to figure out what on earth you’ve missed, leaving you tending towards kleptomania, storing virtually everything that’s not nailed down in the central “case room” to which you can teleport at will. Pleasantly atmospheric and fascinating in its overarching premise, its distinctly indie-grade production values and resolute refusal to provide nudges in the right direction can also make it extremely frustrating.
White Paper Games, £14.99
Atlantic Fleet, Android & iOS
Atlantic Fleet puts you in command of either the Royal Navy or German Kriegsmarine in the second world war’s Atlantic campaign. Like 2012’s Pacific Fleet, you take turns setting ships’ speed and course before aiming and firing guns and torpedoes, then keeping your fingers tightly crossed as your enemy does the same. Battles require tactical cunning as well as accurate targeting, exploiting ships’ strengths while allowing for their weaknesses: submarines are slow yet lethal, while aircraft carriers let you unleash a fleet of bombers but are so big and fragile that they need constant shepherding. Its Battle Of The Atlantic mode adds the further dimension of managing the overall war effort, with sunken ships lost forever and scarce ammunition supplies a continual worry. You’ll need superhuman persistence to find all that out, however: there’s no tutorial and only a few static help screens to explain this complex and detailed simulation. It takes serious dedication to master all the tactics you need to keep these ships afloat.
Killerfish Games, £7.99
