Title: Papertris
Developer: Paper_Games
Publisher: Flynn’s Arcade
Release Date: March 30th, 2023
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Introduction

Papertris is an indie developed arcade puzzle game created by a father and his two young children. The game brings traditional Tetris familiarity and combines that formula with some fresh ideas.

Synopsis

A hand-drawn arcade puzzle game that is a love letter to that of Tetris. The use of multiple different colored cubes to match other colored cubes in a total of six directions. This is accomplished by also eliminating blocks on other planes you currently are playing on.

Analysis

The game consists of a few different modes that will cover a few different areas in how you want to play the game. The rules are straight forward by simply matching 3 of the same colors in any shape eliminates those cubes. A total of twelve colors will make an appearance. You can not rotate the blocks which are set in a vertical pattern of three, but you can cycle the colors so that they can potentially match up with like colors.

Challenge mode: Gives the player a set of rules in which they must follow to complete the challenges that are tasked.

Endless mode: This mode provides a never-ending barrage of increasing level difficulty as the color of the blocks become more diverse as you gain speed.

Versus Mode: (2 Player) Requires more of a tactical approach on the game as you strive to gain combos to send what is called blocking dice to hinder your opponent’s strategy and throw off their focus.  

The gameplay 

Right away the game feels familiar with its Tetris like looks and setup but looks can be deceiving when it comes to playing the game. The main menu offers a notebook like feel with a color pencil medium.

 I started off with the challenge mode which starts off with easy tasks of completing a set number of colors. For example, it may ask to get 3 of the same colors grouped twenty times. So, twenty yellow, twenty orange, and the rest of the colors are hurdles to clear. As you continue your campaign tasks get more elaborate with additional colors and quicker speeds. Soon other tasks started to appear like timed challenges, eliminate X blocks, and eventually dimensional tasks.

The dimensional portion of the game is quite interesting since you not only play on the current plane with a single set of blocks, but also behind that row. You must further strategize on how you will lay your colored cubes to destroy X marked blocks behind your first wall. It can get a bit confusing, but it really makes you think about how you will place your pieces more precisely.

Other additions in the block line up are power cubes. Power cubes have a variety of color and purpose. Based on the piece it will explode after a certain time and eliminate certain surrounding blocks depending on its attributes. They can also change surrounding block colors depending on placement.    

Endless mode is straightforward with a continuous supply of blocks with increasing speed in a variety of colors. These subtle changes in the blocks can really test your longevity of your Tetris-like skills.

I played these two modes and did not get a chance to try out versus mode due to playing this before launch. I am curious to see if it is an endless mode type of game or if you try and eliminate each other in some fashion  

Final Score:

Papertris: When you expect another Tetris-like game you usually do not expect too much variety or new and fresh content, but Papertris provided me with a few surprises. The best things that it provided me with personally is a fun challenge mode with a variety of tasks that when infused with the added dimension of this puzzle formula you take what is familiar and shake it up for something with a bit more substance. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in challenge mode. This game also provides both a feast for the eyes and the ears. The art style takes on the form of doodles that we are all familiar within our notebooks that we or others would draw when we were not paying attention to the class curriculum. It gave a pleasant vibe that I could get lost in. The music was also stellar and paired with the art style really caused the game to pop for me.

When it comes to puzzle games, I need the game to hook me in some way to really keep me engaged and though Tetris is a classic I usually could play it here and there and not for long. Papertris was able to capture my attention through challenge mode and because of it I revisited it multiple times and got the chance to really dive into its fun nature. While the game has its exciting moments, I also had a few issues with it. Endless mode felt a bit empty after playing challenge mode and the inability to rotate the 3 cubes or have different shapes was hard to phase into when we are normally exposed to other games in the genre with the ability to do so. To me it felt awkward but I think with time it would saturate into my conscience as I got use to the idea and gameplay. If you enjoy Tetris just even a little you will certainly enjoy this take on the classic puzzle genre.       

Shane Kelley is a Senior writer for Boss Rush Network, as well as a writer for Another Zelda Podcast. His favorite game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. You can find him on Twitter to talk video games, Marvel, and axe throwing.

Sources: Taken by Author