Block blast is the work of a genius
For some reason, literally 75% of the school is playing Block Blast. And I’m left so perplexed as to why they love it so much.
It’s just a basic drag-and-drop blocks game where you fill up rows and columns. Simple… and, in my opinion, something that will bore you after 4 days of playing. No levels. Nothing. Just… blocks?
So I decided to try it out.
(In case you’re curious, I decided to drop my random thoughts as they came into this Fediverse thread.)
Disclaimer: I legit know nothing about psychology. I’m just putting these theories out there for fun!
Table of contents
Weird mapping?
The first thing you do as you play Block Blast is drag and drop a block. Sounds easy enough.
Then a weird thing happened. I was used to blocks being directly under my finger as I drag them. But this was weird. It wasn’t mapped exactly to the position of my finger on the screen. One small finger movement led to a larger block movement.
I think that’s quite engaging. Minimal hand movement and large effect. Perfect for us lazy peeps.
It also has a slight learning curve to it as you figure out how to control each block with ease. Once you get the hang of it, there’s some sort of satisfaction and attachment. Think of those Vim fanatics who somehow memorised ever keybind.
Animations!!!
The animations are so freaking gorgeous. So much feedback and shaking and colourful stuff and everything literally popping off the screen!
Without audio, I can just ‘hear’ how beautiful these animations are (that’s probably because I might have motion-to-sound synesthesia, which I discovered a few days ago, but I digress) and it’s quite satisfying. I can just about hear all the popping noises and everything.
With audio, I found that the sounds were actually much cooler than I expected. But I don’t play stuff with audio unless it’s a TikTok or a Pokémon game, so I turned the volume back down.
It kinda seems algorithmic?
For some reason, the game gives you pretty good blocks for all situations. The only time it doesn’t is when you screwed up and there is almost no way for you to redeem yourself from that mistake.
But otherwise, it gives you amazing combinations. You just need to use those three blocks wisely and think a bit, and you’ll clear the board with ease.
It’s quite rewarding. And of course, rewards = dopamine. Dopamine makes you addicted to stuff. Idk, I’m not a biology nor psychology expert. You think you’re amazing, so you keep playing.
At the same time, it’s so easy to get the best moves that it’s hard. You see the best move right after you commit a bad one! You feel bad for it! So after you lose, you try again. You’re convinced you can do better moves each time. You get a new highscore. Rinse. Repeat.
Ten minutes in, you’re addicted. I could feel it by the minute as I wonder at all the amazing things about the game.
It makes you think
Some games might make you brain-dead. Some apps too, like TikTok and other social media. We all know that after all that, some mental stimulation is due.
This game has the perfect mix between being a strategy game and a braindead one. You have to think about the combinations. But at the same time, you can just do whatever because it’s just blocks. It’s not that deep.
And when you do succeed, you feel so gooood because it took a small bit of effort, but also not that much. Woah, you think to yourself. I’m amazing at this! Cue more feel-good hormones (probably, I think).
Starting the game takes no more than five seconds.
I finish installing the game. I open the app. I click “Agree” on whatever Terms And Conditions screen they have, then see a tutorial.
I do not read the tutorial. I drag and drop a block. I drag and drop another. Woohoo, I cleared a column! Woah, I cleared a row!
Suddenly, I’m playing. Then I’m posting on Fedi. Then I’m playing again. Then I post again. Hmm, should I play a bit more and see why it’s so good? Yeah sure. I play again.
Within 10 minutes, I realise I’m addicted, if only just a bit.
But I’m a cynic. I’m wary of these things because uhm… anyways, I uninstalled it now. Hehe.
Hope you enjoyed this rather yap-y review.