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Block Puzzle: Difference between revisions
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Sometimes you can pretty much push them wherever you want, in which case the puzzle is how to get the blocks to their goal without other blocks getting in the way. Other times, the floors are covered with [[Frictionless Ice]] or some other slippery substance and whenever you push the block, it keeps moving until it hits a wall. In those cases, you have to bounce the block in a convoluted path around the room, hitting various pillars set up in the middle to get the block to its goal. If they really want to be nasty with these, they'll have more than one block in the puzzle, only one of which actually needs to get to the end; the rest have to be pushed to create additional walls for other blocks to hit. There are also dark rumors of block puzzles so fiendish that they actually require ALL blocks to get to the end, ''while using each other as walls to get there'' and [[Bottomless Pits]] that eat the blocks and/or you, forcing you to start over.
Other variations on the formula include:
* Blocks with different properties, such as Destroyable blocks, [[Frictionless Ice]] Blocks, [[Light and Mirrors Puzzle|Mirror or Prism]] blocks, or blocks that interact or react with each other
* Enemies that pursue the player and must be trapped or crushed by the blocks
* The ability to ''[[You Have Researched Breathing|pull]]'' blocks as well as push them.
The [[Block Puzzle]] shows up in many genres, though [[Action Adventure]] and [[RPG|RPGs]] are well known for their propensity to stick giant boxes in your way. It serves to break up the action, in most games, intended to give the players a moment to breathe and think. Unfortunately, this trope has been used so often and to such an extent that the usual response upon finding such a room is something along the lines of "Aw geez, not ''another'' block puzzle!" and a quick trip to [[
[[Block Puzzle|Block Puzzles]] will show up in [[Puzzle Game|Puzzle Games]] too, of course, but in that case... well, they're ''puzzle'' games. Also, in any game where you are accompanied by an ally (NPC or otherwise), you will almost ''always'' encounter [[Broken Bridge|a block that won't budge]] unless you and your allies all shove away at it together. [[Artificial Stupidity|If they can figure that out, of course]].
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Named after the infamous block puzzle mechanic in ''[[Vagrant Story]]''.
Also see [[Klotski]]. Not to be confused with [[Falling Blocks]].
{{examples}}
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== [[Roguelike]] ==
* The ''Sokoban'' [[Mini Game]] [[Sidequest]] in ''[[Nethack]]'' consists of pushing boulders around to plug up holes in the floor which are otherwise impassable.
** Well, a wand of digging can destroy the blocks for you, but you get penalised for that. Cheater-pants.
*** A wand of digging has no effect on boulders (wand of striking works on the boulders, or any method of digging DOWN) , but yes, in Nethack, they try to make any attempt to 'think outside the Sokoban box' get a luck penalty
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* ''[[Rogue Galaxy]]'' employed what has to be [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|the most epic block puzzle in the history of the galaxy]]. [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] and everything.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Mystic Quest]]'' has a few of these - which, since most ''Final Fantasy'' dungeons are [[No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom|straightforward get-to-the-end kill-the-boss areas]], was rather innovative for the series.
* ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' has one in almost every dungeon, or so it seems. Notably the first one, in which they're actually ''[[Golem|Golems]]'', and so have to be beaten into submission before you can use them.
** At least in ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' the four most egregious were optional, albeit rewarded with one of the most useful titles in the game.
* In ''[[Dragon Quest III]]'', the Dry Vase item needed to reach an underwater location is held in the basement of a castle in a room locked behind a rolling boulder puzzle. While the king informs you that "no one has ever solved it", the puzzle is remarkably easy, thus proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that everyone in that castle suffers from a terminal case of the Stupids.
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== [[Simulation Game]] ==
* ''[[Lost in Blue]]'' and its sequel had a number of them, made all the more annoying for the fact that completing the puzzles take stamina, which is a [[Wizard Needs Food Badly|very precious commodity]] in those games.
== [[Survival Horror]] ==
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== [[Turn-Based Strategy]] ==
* There are many levels in ''[[Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice]]'' and ''[[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten]]'' that require the proper placement of Geo Blocks, to be used as steps, and/or to manipulate the [[Geo Effects]] in a way that allows you to win the map. Some of them are also timed, and will either make the map unwinnable, or give you an instant [[Game Over]] if you don't get the blocks into position quickly enough.
=== Non-video game examples: ===
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== Webcomics ==
* [http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0164.html Block puzzles] [http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/20021023.html are common] in the world of ''[[Adventurers!]]!''
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{{quote|[[Light and Mirrors Puzzle|... but you still have to arrange the mirrors so the beam touches the sun,]] [[Cracked.com|and to do that you're going to need to grab the fourth block from the left and-]]}}
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