Game:Â Tricky Towers
System:Â Nintendo Switch
Developer:Â WeirdBeard
Publisher:Â WeirdBeard
Age Rating:Â 3/E
Price: £13.49 | €14,99| $14.99
Release Date:Â Oct 11th 2018
(The game is also available on Steam, PS4, Xbox One, Linux)
I get excited about any title that’s built around tetriminos. As soon as I saw the first trailer for Tricky Towers on Switch I immediately wanted to play it, and thanks to the generosity of the game’s publisher, I’ve been able to do just that. So the question remains: is it worth your time and money? Hopefully I can answer that question below.
Gameplay
In Tricky Towers, you control a wizard whose task is to build the biggest tower possible using tetrominoes that fall from the sky.
The type of foundation upon which a tower is built differs depending on which game mode you play. In endless mode, the tower base is a house, where in survival mode it resembles a castle, and in puzzle mode a simple mount.
It’s also important to note that apart from the blocks being the same shape, Tricky Towers is nothing like Tetris. In Tetris, your goal is to form lines in order to clear rows/blocks without reaching the top of the grid, where as Tricky Towers is the complete opposite.
Tricky Towers is mainly about building as tall a tower as possible without it falling over.  If your tower is uneven then parts of it or even all of it will fall into the abyss.
Single Player Mode
When playing in single player mode, progress is made by reaching a set goal line. Once a goal has been reached, another goal line is set and players obtain white spells which can be used to aid the building of your structure.
The higher your structure the higher your score, but your score will decrease as soon as you start losing parts of your tower. Mistakes however will happen, because it’s easy to misplace a brick or distribute weight unevenly.
In Puzzle mode, the player must place blocks below a line, which if passed means game over.
Survival mode mixes up the play; limiting the number of mistakes you can make, throwing the odd object at you – such as pianos, windmills, and even huge tetriminoes! You also face a few complications thanks to fast falling blocks, non-rotatable shapes, mist etc.
Competitive modes
Tricky Towers includes local and internet multi-player modes. The game allows upto 4 players to compete, in either a single match or a cup competition.
Local Co-Op and On-line mode slightly differs from single mode, in that they are designed to have a competitive edge.
In Race mode, gamers build their towers quickly in order to reach the finish line. Survival (as well as the elements mentioned above) adds a race element that requires players to use a set number of blocks to win. Victory in puzzle mode goes to the player that places the most blocks under the cut-off line. Multiplayer also includes dark magic which allows wizards to cause havoc for their competing neighbours.
My one little gripe with online play, is that the game modes are randomized. I personally prefer race mode over the survival and puzzle modes – Even though I still enjoy my less favoured modes, it would be nice to choose which mode I’d like to play online.
Sadly, I haven’t been able to play local multi-player much due to playing solo most of the time. I’ve also found in recent days that its difficult to find opponents on-line.
If you do however have family or friends to play with, then I’m sure Tricky Towers would make a great party game. A simple search on Youtube will show how much fun and crazy this game gets when 2-4 players face each other.
Customization
There are a small number of customization options for players to enjoy in Tricky Towers. By default, there are just four characters and brick skins to choose from. This doesn’t mean that such options can’t be expanded because the eShop features DLC, but that requires an extra cost on top of the games RRP.
Visuals and Sound
Tricky Tower’s visuals are basic but clean, bright, and colourful. The games soundtrack is also quite catchy. I’ve caught myself humming it a few times, and even my little boy likes to sound it out when he hears it being played.
Overall
I like Tricky Towers a lot. I love being able to build towers and I’m more than happy simply trying to beat my own personal best score – My wife delights in telling me that I’m not very good, but I don’t care because I enjoy it that much.
If I want slightly more wackiness added to the gameplay, then I will boot up survival mode, but I’m more than satisfied with trying to perfect my tower building skills.
I would love some-more customization options leading up to Christmas, such as a Christmas scene and a playable Santa or Elf. The game has Christmas bricks by default, so why not add a Christmas pack to the eShop?
Either way; I think Tricky Towers will feature at this years Christmas party!
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