[PSX 2015] “Tumblestone” Hands-On

Tumblestone looked like just another puzzle game as we passed by it at the PlayStation Experience, but we’re glad we stopped to give it a try. I have to be honest.  I had no plans on giving this game a…

Tumblestone looked like just another puzzle game as we passed by it at the PlayStation Experience, but we’re glad we stopped to give it a try.

I have to be honest.  I had no plans on giving this game a try.  While I do find certain puzzle games fun, Dr. Mario for instance, they’re just not something I like to play regularly.

But after being denied access at the press lounge on Sunday because I wasn’t part of Latin media, I walked around Moscone West hungry, hardly even thinking about which line I should stand in to play another game.

The Tumblestone booth had cookies if you played their game and joined their mailing list.  I was hungry.  I wanted a cookie or two, so I played their game.

It was a great decision–not because I sustained myself with some cookies, but because Tumblestone was definitely one of my favorites at the show.

Tumblestone is simple.  On the surface, it’s your standard “match-3” game.   All you use is the X button and directional pad.  You take control of a little avatar in a chamber and move from left to right to shoot three blocks of the same color with the X button.

Green, green, green.  Red, red, red.  Purple, purple, purple.  It doesn’t really matter how the blocks are positioned.  As long as you’re shooting the same color three consecutive times, you’ll be fine.  The more difficult levels in the game make things more complicated by having more colors more prevalent than others, sitting in positions where you have to do some thinking before shooting.

In the end, it’s a simple idea, and it’s really easy to execute, but this is not what will make the game great.

Tumblestone‘s multiplayer is absolutely intense.  While I was just getting the hang of things with the puzzles I was solving, it wasn’t long before I was joined by three other curious (and hungry) players, and it just became a slobberknocker.  When playing competitively, the object of the game is to be the first to clear your puzzle three times, and with each puzzle you clear, the harder the next one gets.  If one of your opponents clears his or her puzzle before you clear one of your own, your puzzle placement changes, so you’ll have to re-think your approach.

In other words, this will be one heck of a party game when it comes out.

Tumblestone is slated for release on the PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC, and iOS, so that’s virtually everything, which is awesome because everybody should have the opportunity to play it.  The game isn’t scheduled for release until next summer, and you can bet we’ll have our hands on it when it’s ready.