| BLOCKade | ||||
| ||||
| Developer(s) | Existence Software | |||
| Publisher(s) | Fantendo Publishing Ltd. | |||
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Chrome | |||
| Genre(s) | Strategy RPG | |||
| Release Date(s) | WW March 29, 2015 | |||
| Mode(s) | Single Player | |||
| Age Rating(s) | E10+ | |||
| Media Included | Optical disc | |||
BLOCKade is a 2015 strategy role-playing downloadable title for the Nintendo Chrome. The game was created by Existence Software for the 1st Weekly Challenge. The game's layout is similar to that seen within the Fire Emblem, though includes more active battle tactics, such as timed hits or aiming, in order to entice the player and keep them interested. BLOCKade released worldwide March 29, 2015, and is priced at $1.
Despite the criteria of the challenge, stating that all main protagonists must be blocks, the game stars Tucker Palli, reviving him from a drought of absence outside of cameos within the Adventures of White series.
Plot
The circular Spherelings and their planet are attacked by an alien presence. They transform the Spherelings into cube-like creatures, who hold no volition, allowing the aliens to effectively, and easily, conquer their planet. Standing in their way is Tucker, the final remaining Sphereling, who rescues troops from battlefields and commands them to victory, in order to save their planet.
Gameplay
The game is a third person turn-based RPG, similar to the Nintendo 3DS title Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.. The player, acting as Tucker, must command the various Brickworks around the board.
The Brickwork soldiers each hold a single skill, being based around the Fire, Water, Thunder and Earth elements. The elements have a single strength and weakness, and it acts as a game of rock-paper-scissors.
| Element | Weakness | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | Water | Earth |
| Water | Thunder | Fire |
| Thunder | Earth | Water |
| Earth | Fire | Thunder |
The battlefield where the battles take place are lined with squares. The player plans out their moves on the map by controlling a ghost-like version of the Brickwork whose turn it is After planning the turn, one of the opponent fighters gets to move at the same time, initiating a battle upon reaching the same space, while also able to attack once a certain distance away.
On the battlefield, sometimes neutral Brickworks can appear, and will walk around during turns. Should they be reached by Tucker's forces, they will join the roster of soldiers he can call upon. However, if the alien forces reach them, they will kill them.
A Brickwork soldier has four stats, randomly generated alongside the soldier themselves. These stats are Power, Defence, Speed and Luck. Power determines the damage dealt by the soldier; defence determines the damage dealt to the soldier; speed determines the evasive ability and, if high enough, grant the soldier extra moves; and luck determines the chance of landing a Severe Strike, which deals double the damage to the foe.
Multiplayer
A multiplayer mode exists within the game, both online and locally in one of two game types.
Locally, up to four players can work together on a team, playing cooperatively. The players take turns controlling the Brickwork soldiers, making the game either harder or easier, depending on how much communication is done between players.
Online, players can play both cooperative mode and versus mode. Cooperative mode acts the same as in locally, with online chat enabled to allow communication between the players. In versus mode, players work against each other, each commanding their own army of Brickwork soldiers. The versus mode can be played from two to eight players: 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on-3 or 4-on-4.
Characters
| Character | Description |
|---|---|
| Tucker Palli | Tucker acts as the player's avatar, commanding the Brickwork soldiers during the battle. Tucker dons a beige hat decorated with a star in this appearance. |
Brickwork Soldiers
The Brickwork soldiers have randomly generated names, appearances, stats and abilities, fitting into one of the four elemental types. Once they all die, they are unable to be revived, forcing the player to move wisely.
There are a total of 12 skills that a Brickwork soldier can have, with the damage dealt depending on the attack stat of the soldier. Below is a list of all skills that could be held by a Brickwork.
| Ability | Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fireball | Fire | The Brickwork soldier throws a ball of fire at the opponent, which explodes once it hits them. |
| Napalm Punch | Fire | The Brickwork soldier punches as their arm is encased in flames, creating an explosion as it hits the opponent. |
| Napalm Rain | Fire | The Brickwork Soldier calls upon the powers of the Gods, and rains down fiery missiles from the sky unto the targeted opponent. |
| Bubble | Water | The Brickwork solider fires large bubbles at the opposing force, exploding as they draw near. |
| Crash | Water | The Brickwork soldier creates a wave of water that will crash into the opposing force. |
| Whirlpool | Water | The Brickwork soldier summons a whirlpool, which they throw at the opponent. Dealing minor damage to those trapped within it, it damages all opponents in its path and will throw aliens away. |
| Lightning Shock | Thunder | The Brickwork soldier fires a bolt of lighting at the opponent that can paralyze the opposing force. |
| Lightning Jet | Thunder | A close-range attack that has the Brickwork soldier slamming into the targeted force as lightning consumes them. |
| Lightning Rod | Thunder | The Brickwork soldier holds up a small, silver device and a large lightning bolt will crash down into it, charging it before firing a beam of pure energy at the target. |
| Earthquake | Earth | The Brickwork soldier slams into the ground, causing an earthquake to damage the targeted opponent. |
| Tombstone | Earth | The Brickwork soldier slams into the ground, creating a parade of stalagmites that last for two turns. They act as destructible barriers, though will damage all fighters that are standing on the spaces they occupy when they rise upwards. |
| Graveyard | Earth | The Brickwork solider slams into the ground, and various stalactites fall from the sky, surrounding the opposing force, before a bomb is dropped onto them. |
amiibo Support
Scanning amiibo figures will grant the user a random Brickwork soldier of a certain element. Up to three amiibos can be used per day, and, as of launch, all released amiibos are compatible.
| amiibo | Element | amiibo | Element | amiibo | Element |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donkey Kong | Earth | Fox | Thunder | Kirby | Water |
| Link | Earth | Mario | Fire | Marth | Water |
| Peach | Earth | Pikachu | Thunder | Samus | Fire |
| Villager | Earth | Wii Fit Trainer | Water | Yoshi | Fire |
| Captain Falcon | Fire | Diddy Kong | Earth | Little Mac | Water |
| Luigi | Fire | Pit | Thunder | Zelda | Earth |
| Bowser | Fire | Ike | Earth | King Dedede | Water |
| Lucario | Fire | Mega Man | Thunder | Meta Knight | Earth |
| Rosalina | Water | Sheik | Thunder | Shulk | Earth |
| Sonic | Earth | Toon Link | Earth | Charizard | Fire |
| Lucina | Earth | Ness | Thunder | Pac-Man | Water |
| Robin | Thunder | Wario | Earth | Toad | Water |
Locations
In the story mode, there are six stages that span the story mode, with each having a specific type advantage. Type advantages boost the power of moves from that type by an additional 0.5x.
| Stage | Type | In-game Description |
|---|---|---|
| Oceanview | Water | The area where the aliens first landed: outside a small resort town. Watch out for the rising water that can manipulate the terrain and maybe cause a death or two. |
| Mountain Ridge | Thunder | The aliens you fought were just a distraction! The inhabitants of the resort town are now Brickwork soldiers working alongside the alien forces! Retreat to the base of the mountains! |
| Cavern | Earth | What happened? One minute you were fighting the alien forces, now you lay dazed in this stinky cavern. Watch out for the stalagmites and stalactites that cover this battleground! |
| Molten Ridge | Fire | You found your way to the surface! But... what happened? The planet looks different than before, covered with fire and a dark aura. We have to find out what has happened! |
| En Route | Thunder | The town! Is it... flying!? Remain in the town and try to take out the rest of the alien forces. We need to uncover more information on what has happened. |
| Hive | Earth | What is that!? It must be their hive! There will be a lot of aliens hanging around here, no doubt. Time to put on your commander's hat for what could be a final time. |
Multiplayer-exclusive
An additional two stages are exclusive to multiplayer mode, again including their own type advantages.
In multiplayer mode, it is possible to remove the type advantage on the stage, and this is done by default in fights against strangers online.
| Stage | Type | In-game Description |
|---|---|---|
| Glacier | Water | A palace carved out of the ice that makes up the walls around it. No one knows where these caves came from, but it has since become a site for treasure hunters. |
| Laboratory | Thunder | The laboratory that first detected the alien menace. Now in shambles, it was once the workplace of the most well-known scientists in the world. |
Gallery
Trivia
- Everything in the game is based around one of three shapes: circles, squares or triangles. This includes the characters, with the Brickworks being primarily cubes, Tucker being a sphere and the aliens having triangular limbs.
