BoXiKoN Review

By , on July 20, 2009


BoXiKoN
  • Publisher: Paul Burkey
  • Genre: Board
  • Released: 19 Jul, 2009
  • Size: 13.9 MB
  • Price: $1.99
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Visually rich.
  • Extremely unique take on the Tetris-block-fitting concept.

CONS

  • No music, but it does support iTunes.
  • No one-handed option.

VERDICT

 Boxikon is a hard one to put down, with its difficulty scaling up with each piece that is placed on the field, definitely an easy game to recommend.


  • Full Review
  • App Store Info

Boxikon by Paul Burkey is an odd puzzle game, but that's not a bad thing at all when you're attempting to cram 74 different shape combinations in to a grid to score some points. Available for several years on PC and Mac, the iPhone version is a polished arcade puzzle game and delivers a Tetris come Bejeweled style of gameplay that's almost immediately addictive.

Boxikon uses a drag and drop system that utilises a second finger to rotate the piece currently selected. While this can be awkward and certainly isn't a game that can be played one-handed, the controls are executed perfectly and even place the selected piece above your finger to avoid obscuring the board. Players continue to drop pieces in to play aiming to fill up a row or column to score points, different combinations award more points and open up the field for the more abstract pieces.

There's a lot of panache in the somewhat flamboyant explosions of the lines as you complete them or as the board morphs in to a different colour/pattern as you continue to play. A lot of the interface is quite helpful and easy to navigate, but one of the best little features is the way the game will highlight pieces that can't be used because there's no room on the board for them.

Boxikon has all the polish that comes from several years of supporting the game on desktop computers and still manages to suit the iPhone completely. Whether you play this in Relaxed mode or at high speed, it's a gem of a game.

Screenshots

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