klocki

Developer: Maciej Targoni, Wojciech Wasiak | Publisher: Maciej Targoni | Release Date: 2016 | Genre: Casual / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Puzzle games, especially ones that cater to casual players, are a genre with no shortage of titles. Unfortunately, many of these titles tend to be clones of each other, and sometimes, in an effort to one-up each other, the games become very convoluted in the process. Klocki is very much a puzzle game, but it forges its own unique path without caring what the competition is doing.

These days, puzzle game fans are used to being bombarded by frenetic titles featuring leaderboards, rankings, points, time limits, and other anxiety-inducing features. Some puzzle games also go over the top with the visuals and audio in an attempt to appear more action-packed. While there’s a market for these games, it feels like a breath of fresh air when something like Klocki comes around. Not only does it sport a very minimal design, but the game is also as calm and relaxing as can be.

Starting Klocki up immediately throws players straight into the first puzzle. There’s no title screen or tutorial explaining the game’s core concepts. Instead, players are presented with a single blue block with two lines on top of it. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to discover that the lines can be swapped around by clicking on them and that, once connected, they light up. Once both lines are connected, a satisfying gong sound is played, and players move on to the next level. Here, the same thing is expected from players, but this time, the block has three lines instead of two. The game slowly increases the number of blocks and lines, but most players will fly through these levels in a matter of seconds once they grasp the concept. Curved lines and oddly shaped blocks are introduced at some point, but these shouldn’t pose much of a problem, either. Eventually, the flat blocks with lines become 3D shapes, and then, out of the blue, a new puzzle mechanic is introduced in the form of dots that can’t be placed next to each other. Before players know it, they will be moving tiles, rotating pieces, sliding blocks, manipulating switches, and more.

Klocki does a brilliant job of introducing new puzzle elements and slowly mixing them with the old ones to create more elaborate challenges. In total, there are more than 80 puzzles in the game, and we really enjoyed most of them, apart from the later ones, which involved combining shapes.

The different puzzle mechanics keep things fresh, and solving each level is very rewarding. Unfortunately, it’s entirely possible to complete every single level in Klocki in less than two hours, and afterward, the game doesn’t have a lot of replay value. Usually, this would be a drawback, but considering how cheap Klocki is, we can’t blame it for the short duration.

Visually, it’s clear that Klocki was originally a mobile title, but that doesn’t mean the game looks bad. Each puzzle is set on a single screen, and the pastel colors, along with the distraction-free backgrounds, keep things calm and relaxing. The game is easy on the eyes, and the music is calming. To keep the visuals and playing experience free of clutter, Klocki does not have any points, timers, or star ratings. Instead, it is simply you against the puzzle, so you can take as much time as you need to figure things out. Once the final puzzle has been completed, the game simply loops back to the first one, albeit with the option to skip directly to whatever puzzle you want to try again. The minimal design of Klocki extends to the entire interface. It doesn’t have any type of title screen or options menu and the only thing players can change is turning the music off if they wish.

All things considered, we enjoyed our brief time with Klocki, even if some of the puzzle elements were a little less enjoyable than the others. It’s a great title for players who want to exercise their puzzle-solving skills without the added pressure of timers and leaderboards. Overall, it’s a little on the easy side, but some of the later puzzles definitely require a bit more thought. Seeing as Klocki can be bought for pocket change, it’s an easy recommendation for all puzzle fans.