BQM -BlockQuest Maker-

Genre: Content Creation Application / Puzzle / Action-RPG

Players: 1, Online Content Sharing

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Review:

BlockQuest Maker is a Content Creation Application that allows players to construct their own simple character-based Puzzles and Action-RPG dungeons, as well as playing the creations of other players. This game was released on PC and mobile devices in 2018 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2019.

The presentation here is nothing especially impressive, combining a slightly-irritating chiptune soundtrack with simple 2D sprites and boxy Minecraft-style 3D visuals, this game’s visual presentation is extremely basic and unambitious. While this in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the simplicity of the visuals and the limitations of the game’s camera often make it difficult to parse what’s going on – players can choose one of multiple camera angles to play the game, but can’t simply zoom in to get a better look at what’s going on.

However, I will commend this game on doing a good job introducing players to its concepts, by first guiding them to a built-in series of dungeons that do a good job of demonstrating the game’s mechanics. BlockQuest Maker is at its core largely a character-based puzzle game where players push boxes, hit switches, and just generally try to make their way to each stage’s exit.

Depending on the whims of the stage’s creator, these stages can also incorporate enemies to be more like an Action-RPG, although these Action-RPG elements are so simple and shallow that I honestly don’t know why you’d bother with them save for the sake of variety – this game is mostly about the character-based puzzle-solving, and at least in that regard it works well, although not in any way that truly revolutionizes the genre.

Once players have a good feel for these mechanics, they can head into the game’s creation mode to create their own dungeons. It takes a little bit of fiddling around to get a feel for the menus, controls, and in particular how to link various elements (such as linking a switch to a door), but after a bit of trial and error this is relatively easy enough. I will note that the controls seem designed with the touchscreen in mind, and players using the game in handheld mode will likely find this to be the best way to do their dungeon-crafting.

At first, the tools available to the player will seem extremely limited, but the game cleverly hides numerous build elements behind the expenditure of in-game currency. Players can earn this currency either by completing levels, or by publishing levels online that others play – the more players who enjoy your level, the more you ‘“earn”. This works as a fun enticement both to play others’ levels, as well as to ensure that your own levels are well-designed.

In the end, BlockQuest Maker doesn’t do anything truly revolutionary and parts of its presentation seem outright primitive or even hinder the gameplay. However, it is a competent creation tool for top-down Puzzle games, and to that end it even makes use of some clever game systems to ensure that players are creating good content and playing what others have on offer. If you’re looking for a way to craft and share your own simple puzzles, BlockQuest Maker will likely satisfy that desire.

tl;dr – BlockQuest Maker is a Content Creation Application that lets players create and share their own character-based Puzzles with light Action-RPG elements. The presentation here is primitive with a terrible camera, and the Puzzle gameplay isn’t anything revolutionary, but the creation and sharing tools are decent, and players looking to create puzzles to share with others should find this to be worth a look.

Grade: C

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