Stack ‘Em High

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local Wireless)

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Review:

Stack ‘Em High, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2017, is an Arcade-style game where players use the touchscreen to direct 3D objects falling to a platform, with the goal of trying to stack as many of those items as possible.

The presentation here is pretty bad. Despite how much it would suit this sort of game, there is no support for stereoscopic 3D, the 3D models for the objects are simple and not very detailed, and everything is backed by a terrible, annoying soundtrack.

At the very least, the gameplay here has potential. Indeed, there are already other games on the Nintendo 3DS and other platforms about stacking things that are plenty of fun, such as Art of Balance and Find the Balance. Unfortunately, Stack ‘Em High has multiple issues that make its gameplay less of a skill-based challenge, and more of a random crapshoot.

Players are not given an indication how the objects they’re stacking will be oriented when they drop, making it difficult to plan out their placement. They can’t choose to drop those items slowly so as not to disturb the already-placed items any more than needed. They are forced to drop items far too quickly, not even giving players a chance to reorient the camera before the items are automatically dropped. Players cannot see where the cursor goes when they touch the screen to place it before dropping the next object – moving the cursor drops it automatically. Also, cursor placement is often highly inaccurate, resulting in dropping objects in places you don’t want them.

I suppose I could detail the different game modes here, the competitive mode against the computer-controlled player, the goal-oriented mode of stacking up specific kinds of objects, the multiplayer features… but what’s the point? Stack ‘Em High is simply too broken in too many different ways to be enjoyable for more than a few minutes before moving on to a game where you feel like you have some actual control over the action. Do yourself a favor and play one of those games instead.

tl;dr – Stack ‘Em High is an Arcade-style game that has players directing falling objects with a goal of stacking as many as possible on a platform. Unfortunately, the game is plagued with numerous problems that make playing the game less about skill and more about dumb luck, and even simply controlling the placement of itemswith any sort of skill or accuracy is virtually impossible. There may be some visceral fun to be had here, but it’s short-lived and you’ll get bored or exasperated with this game very quickly.

Grade: D-

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