Fluxe Review

Having played Tetris and its many clones over the years, I've come to find myself being able to play it in my sleep. Literally, given the dreams that marathon sessions of the falling-block game can give me. Fluxe takes that idea and flips it around.

Instead of being forced to deal with whatever block shows up, the player is given the option of a number of pieces, giving the illusion of ease and simplicity. Fluxe is simple. Its only control inputs are to tap the relevant block so it falls. That hides a challenge, however. The blocks can only land where the AI has designated them.

On the right hand side of the screen, pieces are laid out with them being transferred to the left with a tap of the screen. Wherever they happen to be on the right, they'll fall on the left adding quite an intelligent mechanic. Without being able to move pieces around, the player has to concentrate on creating lines from the tiles they've been provided with. There's no room for rotating which means speed isn't quite as vital as with Tetris. Fluxe immediately feels more like a logic puzzle than arcade puzzler.

Help is provided by a timer which replenishes previously used tiles, but a different timer also affects when a broken line moves to the bottom of the screen, bumping action upwards. Hit the top and it's game over. Two power-ups of sorts help the way in the form of bombs and refresh tiles, but it's still challenging stuff.

At first, Fluxe is disconcerting and takes the player out of their comfort zone. It's not long before things begin to make sense though, and the game turns fun. It'd be nice to see more than one mode included, but that sole gametype is enjoyable and potentially never ending.

Fluxe isn't as easily accessible as something like Tetris but for fans of the genre keen for a new challenge, it is an enjoyable take on the proven formula.