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Block Bros: Platformer Builder is a mobile platformer video game developed by Japanese indie developer Daigo "Odencat" Sato. It was released for iOS on August 2nd, 2015, and for Android on September 10th, 2015. It is the successor to both Block Quest and Block Action. The game is a platformer where players must control their character and navigate to the blue square while avoiding obstacles like spike blocks, which kill the character on impact.
Block Bros. has a campaign mode, with 340 levels developed by Sato and many players in the community. It also has its own level editor, where players can create and share their own levels. Gems are the in-game currency and can be obtained from the aforementioned campaign, watching an ad after completing a level, or by microtransactions.
Description
"Block Bros is a challenging online action game with features more of everything you love! Jump, climb, kick and dash through the ever-expanding selection of levels ! Stages can be created by YOU or your fellow players :)
You can generate URL for every level in the game. Share the link of your level to challenge your friends. See if they can beat it!""Looking for a platformer builder? Block Bros. is a challenging online action game with features more of everything you love! Jump, climb, kick and dash through the ever-expanding selection of levels ! Stages can be created by YOU or your fellow players to showcase a tremendous variety in design and difficulty! This game is free and perfectly suited for everyone including KIDS."
Gameplay
Block Bros. is a 2D pixel-art style platformer, where the main focus is the ability for players to create and share their own online levels. The player controls one of many characters through a single-screen level, and the objective is to make it to the blue square. If the player hits a spike block, their character explodes and they must restart from the beginning. After completing a level, players earn Player Points as a reward, which is Block Bros.' point system. The number of player points earned vary by the difficulty of the level (Easy, Medium, Hard, or Hell); and players can unlock certain features in the game, such as emblems, after reaching a certain Player Point rank.
There are many blocks with different functions. For example, ice blocks cause the character to slowly slip forwards after the player has let go of any inputs, thus, making it much harder to put to a complete stop. And blocks such as gravity blocks switch the player's gravity entirely. Blocks can be purchased from the Shop with the in-game currency, Gems, which can be earned either from the Campaign, by watching an ad upon clearing a level, or by being purchased with real money via the game's microtransactions. Alongside blocks, the Shop also allows players to buy other characters, Themes, which are backgrounds used for levels, and Research, which can either cosmetically or functionally customize a block.
After a created level is completed from the editor, it is allowed to be published online. Players can browse and play various online levels in the "Explore" tab, or can play randomly selected online levels using the "Quickplay" feature. After reaching a new level tier from receiving a certain amount of stars given by other players, the creator of the level earns Builder Points. Players can chat or advertise levels with other players using the Global Chat feature.
Alternatively, there is also a Campaign mode, which consists of different worlds that are referred to as campaigns, each with a set of 20 levels created either by Sato himself, or by other players in the community. Each of the 17 campaigns feature their own plot, where the dialogue is portrayed using message blocks. The first two campaigns are automatically unlocked, and the player unlocks further campaigns by reaching higher Player Point ranks. The player is rewarded with either blocks or gems upon clearing a level in the campaign.
Development
Before the development of Block Bros., its predecessor Block Action had already started experiencing a gradual decline in activity since as early as the latter half of 2010, with less and less levels being posted to the website. A huge contributor to the website's downfall was due to bugs preventing level posting for many users, and many of the levels that were posted were spammed empty low-effort levels, which was considered as the "FPP" of the time. This, alongside slow servers and constant harsh criticism towards the game led to many players leaving the game, and very few new players joining.[1]
It is believed that another factor of Block Action's decline may have been due to the rise of mobile gaming over PC and console gaming.[2] Following this trend, on February 27, 2014, Sato announced the development of BlockQuestMobile, planned to be the third game in the series, and the first to be released as a mobile app.[3] It was then renamed to Block Bros. and more details about the release were announced in Block Quest on September 7, 2014. Beta testers began to be recruited two months later on November 19, 2014, and the official beta was opened to the beta testers on January 28, 2015. Block Bros. was released later in September of 2015, and would receive updates which added new blocks and features, until the Mushroom Valley update in late 2019.[1][4]
Reception
Block Bros. currently holds an average score of 4.6/5 on the Apple App Store and 4.5/5 on the Google Play Store.
Gallery
See Block Bros./Gallery.
Updates
See Update Log.
Icon History
Unused/Discontinued
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Block_Action. (2018, April 30). BA関連史年表. BA関連史年表 - 閉鎖しました. https://w.atwiki.jp/block_action/pages/21.html
- ↑ Shopping, productivity and messaging give mobile another stunning growth year | Flurry. (2015, January 6). https://www.flurry.com/blog/shopping-productivity-and-messaging-give-mobile/#.VK0dJiusVqX
- ↑ Odencat. (2014, February 27). [BlockQuest] BlockQuestMobile [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG_1OL6fs0A
- ↑ Block_Action. (2016, February 24). Block Bros./BB史年表. Block Bros./BB史年表 - 閉鎖しました. https://w.atwiki.jp/block_action/pages/194.html