Sky Blox

The more defensive gamers out there will stick up for their pastime by asserting that video games are good for you. That they teach practical puzzle solving skills which can be applied to everyday life.

I’m not sure how Sky Blox could be applied to anything but the art of furniture removal - the premise being to move a rectangular chunk of rock around a series of awkwardly shaped levels. But it sure is fun.

If you’ve played either of Digital Chocolate’s Diamond Islands games, then you’ll know exactly what to expect. Sky Blox is essentially a stripped back take on the same format, but the more sober setting and a far steeper learning curve might well appeal more to seasoned mobile gamers.

Each level offers an angled view of the game grid and three of your block’s faces. By pressing Up, Down, Left and Right on the D-pad you roll the block over in that direction. It’s a simple mechanic on the surface, but thanks to the block’s shape a whole host of taxing problems arise.

Depending on its alignment, the block could end up in a variety of positions with a single button press. When the goal is to land it end-up on a single square area, you’ll appreciate that planning how to approach the goal in exactly the right way is part of the challenge.

The other challenge is to negotiate the twisting walkways and cramped areas en route to that goal, with one wrong move sending you spinning off into space.

The game’s difficulty cranks up fairly quickly, with new elements introduced such as button-activated bridges and the ability to split your block into two cubes. This is definitely a game for the puzzle-adept, testing as it does your spatial awareness and logic-skills to the max.

Sky Blox’s demanding difficulty, lack of alternative modes and minimalist presentation won’t be to everyone’s taste, and it often feels like it needed an extra month or so in production to apply that extra layer of polish. But if you’re serious about your puzzling, you should give it a roll.