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IncaBlocks review

IncaBlocks is a family game where players must place blocks on a board in order to score points, the player with the highest score wins. A simple idea which anyone can pick up and play but is it as easy to master?

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The game allows up to four players, either human or AI, to play together locally. Each player starts with eleven 3D shaped objects made up of rotateable blocks in which they take turns to place on the game board.  There are however some rules you must follow before placing a shape, first it must be touching a shape that you previously placed, secondly it must not leave a hole and finally it must obey the height rules of the map you are playing on, this means if the height limit is three then you can only place a shape that does not go over three blocks high.

Scores are given for each block that is touching the floor, points are deducted from opponents scores if your shapes block overlaps one of their shapes. Once all players have either placed all the shapes or given up, the person with the highest score is declared the winner.

The scoring system is what makes this game, it allows you to develop a strategy to benefit yourself and/or hinder your opponents. Should you place a 4 block shape on the floor for maximum points or overlap it on an opponents shape and only gain a few points while reducing their score? Should you try and block their shapes so they are unable to place new shapes and force them to give up? These are great tactics which you learn in a few games and can use to your advantage.

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IncaBlocks comes with six boards to play on which range in shape and block height. The variety is good and you have to adapt your tactics on each to get the upper hand. I would have liked to have seen more board choices or even a board designer to help improve the variety and lifespan of the game. There is only one mode in the game, a nice addition would have been a career style mode to give the single player Vs. CPU some lifespan, once you beat the six boards there is little else to do apart from replay them again.

There is no choice of CPU difficulty and once you learn the tactics it can be fairly easy to beat. The AI is OK but I found that later in a game it can be quite slow, taking over thirty seconds to decide where to place a block. Playing with human opponents, as is usually the case, is where the game comes alive and I found it to be much more enjoyable than against the CPU.

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IncaBlocks has a Inca theme throughout the game, the menu design is in a stone like interface which looks nice. The in game graphics are fine and follow the theme of the game, the game board can be freely rotated which works well and I did not have any problems placing blocks because of weird camera angles. The game also supports avatars and they can be seen during the game performing some emotions when placing shapes for example. There are a few music tracks which suit the theme of the game, sound effects are not often used and I would have liked to have heard more but it is not a major issue.

IncaBlocks is a game which should be played with friends rather than the CPU, so if you like strategic board games and have some friends this should be a good choice which can provide hours of fun. If you are looking for single player game it is harder to recommend, as the lifespan is rather short with maybe an hour or two before you get bored. However, IncaBlocks costs 80 :MSPoints: so it is cheap enough for both single and multiplayer and gets a thumbs up from me.

You can find out more information as well as download the trial and full versions of IncaBlocks on the Marketplace here.

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