Tricky Towers

Tetris plus Jenga. That’s the pitch for Tricky Towers. And you know what? It works!

In Race mode you’ll stack bricks as fast as you can in a madcap scramble to build a tower that crosses the finish line in the sky. Sound easy enough? Well, it would be a lot easier if not for the fact that your tower can collapse. To succeed, you’ll need to ensure your glorious monument remains stable as it reaches for the stars. The most foolproof way to boost stability is to build wide foundation and minimize gaps between bricks, but that takes time – time you don’t have. So in your race to the top you’ll inevitably cut corners, and as the finish line nears you’ll likely resort to stacking your bricks in a thin, teetering column and praying to the Jenga gods for mercy.

There are other divergences from the Tetris formula. Spells, which you can use to either stabilize your own tower or sabotage those of your rivals, are one such feature, but I would argue that the bigger change is found in the way that bricks move. Instead of shifting left and right in full-block increments, your tetrominos scoot from side to side in half-block steps – a seemingly minor modification that has major consequences. It means you have to be extra precise if you want to avoid gaps in your tower (thankfully, there’s a translucent guide column that assists with this). More experienced players will also find that the half-block increments can be used improve tower stability. A half-step horizontal shift could provide a slightly wider base to build upon, or create a closer-to-ideal counterweight for steadying a tipsy structure.

Although it has a single player mode, Tricky Towers is a game best enjoyed with a group. Not only that, but it should really be played by friends in the same room, because the utter zaniness of its couch multiplayer doesn't fully translate to online play. For instance, during one recent game I was mere inches from the finish line when a single ill-placed brick sent my entire tower, every last piece of it, crumbling into the ocean below. Watching it disintegrate was dreadful, of course, but it was also absolutely hilarious. Who knew the spectacle of my own downfall could be so entertaining?