Blödtris
for PC (Windows)

Elwood:
Alternate Titles: Dumbtris
Company: Philip Winterberg
Year: 2001
Genre: Puzzle
Theme: Abstract / Humour
Language: Deutsch, English
Licence: Freeware
Views: 33555
Review by Elwood (2008-05-06)
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Blödtris - or Dumbtris as it's called if you install it in english version (the game can be installed in english or german) - is a game that can be sorted into the Tetris-category. Well... at least the name of it claims that sort of kinship. Now it's a bit difficult to write a proper review about it I have to admit. First of all - this game is not really... well... serious. The goal of it is the same as you have in Tetris - you have to build whole lines, they vanish, you get points and after a certain amount of points you go up one level, which means things go faster and so on and so forth.

Weeeellll... this is the case here. Just that there is only one type of block... which is a whole line. And technically you don't really control anything here. The Bricks just keep falling and falling... and you go up one level and one more and so on. So how should we look at this game? The creators call it the end of the line of the long list of Tetris-clones. I'd say look at it as sort of a satire. It mocks the endless stream of Tetris-clones that don't add anything new to the genre. While I do like these in general the question has to be allowed - why? Why do people keep on reprogramming the same gaming idea over and over again? I myself am not such a great programmer and would probably suck at doing a Tetris-clone. But if I had the skills to do one properly - and one has to admit that there are a lot of very well programmed Tetris-clones - well, if I had those skills I'm pretty sure I would invest them into a whole new game instead of doing something not one, not two but at least onehundred people did before me.

So well... this “game” is a good laugh at exactly those programmers who keep on reprogramming.

If you choose to get this and actually play it - always remember: Winning is like waiting, but much more interesting. (quoted from the readme.txt)

Comments (4) [Post comment]

Elwood:

Ah ah - I waited for this discussion, but I do think I am prepared to enter it. So here's what I thought:

1. The game is a satire on Tetris-clones. It is SUPPOSED to mock them.
2. The game totally meets the standards it aims at. There are no flaws, no bugs.
3. This game is supposed to give you a good laugh.
4. It will fail to do so if you are not into Tetris-clones.
5. I am. I laughed.
6. So... let's look at the ratings:
-> 0/6 (total crap, not worth to be in existence): Doesn't fit in my opinion, I already stated why it's worth to be in existence.
-> 1/6 (has something to it, like professional production values, a somewhat nice idea behind it, but is in the end not seriously playable): The "seriously playable" part let me think. But if this game WAS seriously playable it would totally fail at what it's meant to be, so this cannot be it.
-> 2/6 (not that bad; certainly has some redeeming value, but also very serious flaws which, at least at some point in the game, make frustration or boredom overwhelming): See... the game does not have any flaws. This rating is impossible.
-> 3/6 (good game, definitely worth playing for longer than half an hour, but absolutely nothing special to it - a game made 'by the book'): Okay well... this does not meet either. But going higher would mean recommending this game as a "must have" which it simply isn't either.

Conclusion: The ratings below 3/6 were impossible to give because the game is what it is supposed to be. So it had to be 3/6. Which does NOT mean everyone will like it. :)

Mr Creosote:
Well, how do you rate a game which is just a joke? I had the same problem with Advanced Lawnmower Simulation - it's impossible.
Vemperor:

Three Points for a laugh? A strange sense of humour...
It even does not really fit into the "game" category...

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