Pullblox (Pushmo in American territories) is a bloody brilliant little game that sucks away the hours like a superpowered hoover. For less than a fiver, it’s an essential 3DS eShop game, and its sequel, Fallblox (Crashmo), is no different, albeit a gem that comes at the slightly higher price of £7.19.

In the original Pullblox, your doughy, pastel coloured hero, Mallo, was rescuing children from the top of coloured blocks, by way of sliding the blocks out to form impromptu flights of stairs. Though it retains the Cbeebies-ish look of its predecessor, Fallblox is a very different creature entirely. Fallblox’s main change is the ability to move blocks in all four directions, as opposed to Pullblox’s in-or-out movement. The fact that the puzzles are now in three different types of D completely changes the gameplay, allowing for freedom that Pullblox never possessed.



With increased power comes increased frustration, however. Structures can topple on the first move, preventing you from solving the puzzle altogether. It makes you think a lot more than Pullblox did, and I applaud it for the extra difficulty. The reset button is going to see a lot of use in this game. Make no mistakes; this game is a lot harder than Pullblox ever was. The ability to rewind time is still there, however, so if you only make a minor mistake you don’t have to start over from scratch. Though the game can be frustrating, any puzzle game that doesn’t make you question your own intelligence is doing something wrong.

As the game goes on, more block types are introduced, adding another thing to think about to your games. However, the developers do succeed in making these additions feel smooth instead of shoehorned into the game for the sake of a few extra dimensions of gameplay.

A feature carried over from the previous game, possibly one of the best features, is the level designer. The extra block types and introduction of gravity mean that more complex puzzles can be created, and I don’t think it’ll take too long before the community thinks up some fiendish structures to fall off of.

Fallblox is a quality game, and is well capable of following in its daddy’s footsteps as one of the best 3DS puzzlers there is. With its simple visuals, its menus are easy to navigate, and what it tries to pass off as a “plot” is so cute you’ll only barely be annoyed by it.

9/10

+ Multiple save files for everyone to enjoy

+ More freedom than what came before it

+ Pastel visuals and brilliant music ripped straight from toddler TV

– Repetitive gameplay

– Harder, larger puzzles can be overwhelming

– An explanation of a new block type can take a little too long, or seem condescending