See Me, Hear Me, Feel Me

So where was I? Oh yeah…

STOP, LOOK, LISTEN (TO YOUR HEART)
For the iPhone Denki Blocks! audio-visual style it felt right to return to Puzzle Island. But rather than resurrect the whole GBA back-story, characters and all that malarkey, we focussed on some of the more pertinent elements from the theme and reworked those. After all, at the end of the day, it’s all about the puzzles.

Solving puzzles to complete a picture always felt better than just working through a string of puzzles to no avail, so that’s the way it is again – although with more of an advent calendar vibe. There’s also something nice about having a choice of puzzles, especially if you get stuck on one.

As you can see below, we did try a moodier, more serious look. But that didn’t last long. We ditched it on the grounds that it just didn’t feel… Denki. The shadows cast by the blocks were retained because they give the toys a lovely solidity, but that was about it.

For a while Denki Blocks! was a horizontal affair but it quickly became clear that a one-handed experience was more desirable, so we settled on an upright approach.

The GBA audio has always been a favourite (not to mention the most effective) so it made sense to bring that up to date. Colin cleaned up the effects and redid some of the more appropriate pieces of music, as you can hear here. (Which reminds me: we really ought to sort out some lyrics for the theme.)

SHE’S LOST CONTROL AGAIN
Ah, the joy of control systems on iPhone…

Rather than give players a choice of controls I prefer to settle on one system and make that work as well as possible. With Denki Blocks! the main thing is to ensure absolute control over a single block movement, otherwise play becomes untrustworthy and frustrating.

I’d always visualised Denki Blocks! as a board you tilted to slide blocks around, so the first thing to try on iPhone was using tilting to slide blocks around. Meh. We tried and tried until we cried (and almost died) but we just couldn’t make this work. The trouble with tilt control is that it turns Denki Blocks! into more of a finger-twitching game than a brain-itching one, which is simply inappropriate and conflicts with one of the Denki Blocks! “Guiding Lights.”

Next it was the turn of a virtual control pad – obvious buttons on screen to press. This had a tendency to leave you feeling strangely disconnected from play, probably due to the lack of physicality. So instead we ‘naturalised’ this input method and changed it to tapping the edges of the board.

Nope. No joy there either.

Then we turned to stroking… (Stop smirking at the back.) Ah. This immediately felt better – more immediate and direct. This success led to experimentation with a more analogue stroking control, which was a hit with some players (like me) but not most. Those who liked it (ME! ME!) felt they had more control. Those who hated it (pretty much everyone else) felt they had less control – that it was too touchy.

So we ended up with something more digital. Now small strokes move the blocks in obvious steps and longer strokes slide the blocks. Reassuringly, everyone here and all our test subjects so far feel in control with this system.

Get Your Blocks Off (Final Part)

Get Your Blocks Off (Part One)

BACK IN BLOCK
Sorry, Orbital, but now I, Gary Penn, have a new favourite digital snack…

Denki Blocks! on the iPhone. Om. Nom. Nom. And nom.

Oh, yes. We were itching to do another Denki Blocks! and now seemed as good a time as any. It was blatant when we did it for GBA way back in the day that it was ideal for snacking – and the iPhone is an ideal vending machine so it’s a marriage made in heaven.

iPhone Denki Blocks! is the best version yet. It’s the tightest version and the most convenient and dramatic to play. Denki Blocks! is all about the puzzles – and here the mix is perfect: mostly soft centres with a few jawbreakers to test your resolve.

This time around I took time to carefully balance the puzzle blend for beginners and experienced players alike. Some of the previous versions have felt too hardcore. I’d take one look at some of the later puzzles in the GBA version and feel mentally sick. Puzzles like this one…

HOOIIIIK! (Man, that puzzle even looks like block vomit.)

I also don’t like the fact that playing the same type of puzzle too often in one sitting can leave you numb to the fun you just had. You can have too much of a good thing. It’s important to vary your puzzle diet; the contrast improves the scope for drama.

I find Denki Blocks! is like fine mind-toffee. It’s yummy and all (especially the liquorice flavour) but you don’t want to be doing too much of it in a single session. I’m surprised how often I’m peckish for some mental chewy goodness only to end up playing it for too long and leaving my brain hurting. Just like the effect of eating too much toffee in one go.

NOW I AM THE MASTER
Each puzzle in iPhone Denki Blocks! features a rather spiffy Master Challenge. There are five different types of Master Challenge in total, each incredibly satisfying to take on and befitting a true Puzzle Master (like me).

You don’t have to do the Master Challenges but they are oh so tempting. Making a specific shape or any two or three identical shapes will be familiar to players of previous versions. But now you are also challenged to solve some puzzles within limited moves and time.

I’m especially enjoying this more formal focus on beating moves and time pars (they were always implicit rather than explicit on GBA). The speed trials are divisive but they very much remind me of the buzz I used to get from solving Rubik’s Cube as quickly as possible.

Here’s a great example of a classic Denki Blocks! puzzle and a new Master Challenge. It seems impossible but, of course, it’s not. The Master Challenge is to do it in no more than 17 moves (my current record’s 10 BTW).

LET’S GET TOGETHER
In the full version, completing Master Challenges earns you Denki Stars. Collect enough of those and you unlock a set of themed Secret Puzzles and the chance to assemble a Denki Gem. This structure’s basically a refined variation of the GBA original: an obvious set of puzzles on top and a special sub-set underneath. But the urge to complete Denki Gems makes all the difference.

The puzzle sets are arranged like iPhone Springboard icons, which feels good, and you slide between them in the familiar fashion, which feels gooder. Each puzzle is numbered for convenience. It’s a lot easier to reference “Enchanted Forest Puzzle Eight” than it is “You know, that one with the red blocks in…”

Speaking of which, I now have an itch to scratch. My arch puzzle nemesis Sean Taylor has just beaten my best score for that puzzle with the red blocks in and, as Denki’s reigning Puzzle Master that’s… Well, a slap in the face (not to mention a kick in the blocks).

Get Your Blocks Off (Part Two)

It’s the first Thursday of the month, so it must be time for another episode of Denki Radio.

In this ten-minute eavesdrop, we reveal the secret of exactly how we decide which game ideas to pursue and develop with such love and care: Dragons’ Denki.

You can listen below, download the MP3 or subscribe in iTunes.

Enjoy!
-David (@dwlt)

PS The Q&A episode will be ready soon. Let us know in the comments if you have any more questions!

Are you ready for another episode of Denki Radio? Because that’s what’s happening here.

In this ten-minute slice, you’ll find out exactly what The Denki Difference is, how we use it, and why we think it’s worth banging on about so much.

You can listen below, download the MP3 or subscribe in iTunes.

Enjoy!
-David

Hey, Denki can speak! Join myself, Boss Colin Anderson and Creative Boffin Gary Penn in the first ever episode of the Denki Radio show. In this episode, we take a journey down Memory Lane and reminisce about the origins of Denki…

You can listen on the site or download the MP3.

And don’t worry, it’ll only take precisely 10 minutes.

Update: Subscribe to Denki Radio in iTunes by clicking here.

-David