The game Burger Tetris is a nice callback to the classic game Tetris. Both games have the same basic rules and player actions. This game begins easily enough with the player being presented with a unique shape that slowly moves towards the bottom of the screen. The player has options for what they can do with this shape. They can rotate it in 90 degree increments and move it from left and right. How to do this is a bit unclear as there are no instructions for how to do so. The player must instead use trial and error to find out how to rotate and move the shapes. This is not too difficult to find out however, especially if one is familiar with how the original game of Tetris works. The player has a limited time to choose what they want to do with the falling shape, for once the shape touches the bottom of the screen or another shape, that is where it will stay. Shapes can only be moved from their final position when the player orders the shapes in such a way that they fill an entire row. Once the row is completed, it disappears from the screen and the shapes in the rows above it move a row down. The game becomes more complicated as the player moves further into the game. As the game moves forward, the stack of shapes grows higher and higher, causing the player to have less time to find where the best place to put the new shape is and how to figure out how to get it there. The game ends when the stack of shapes reaches the top of the screen. The only goal of this game is to get a high score. The longer the player can go without the game ending and the more rows they make disappear, the higher their score will be.
The uncertainty of victory in this game comes from the player’s skill in finding the best place for the unique shapes and the type of shape that is on screen. If the player does not have much skill in placing the shapes, they may place the blocks poorly and make the game more difficult for themselves. Poor placement of shapes may cause the player to become overwhelmed later on in the game as they are unable to clear the rows and the stack of shapes only grows higher. The player can become more skilled at placing shapes however. If the player replays the game enough they can develop this skill and become better at the game. While the player is able to improve their ability to place the shapes well, it is impossible for the player to guess what shape may appear next on the screen. No matter how good the player is at the game, if a shape is unable to fit neatly in the existing stack it will most likely be placed in an awkward spot. This placement may then make it more difficult to clear the rows and make future shapes harder to place.
Burger Tetris is very similar to the classic game of Tetris, where the goal of the game is to reach the highest score possible by manipulating the position of random shapes within the playing field. The two main actions within the game are movement and manipulation, all in light of strategically executing these actions such that a high score can be achieved where score is achieved once a row of parts of the shapes are formed. Considering this, there is more emphasis on strategy than the physical interaction of the player with the controller. I guess one could say that spamming shape manipulations at the last second before a shape sits in its permanent position once it collides with an unmovable shape already place could be a skill, but overall, the strategy lies in assuming where to place these new shapes on each turn and doing this quick enough such that this does not need to happen. Moreover, this strategy follows from the randomness of the new shapes that are placed into the playing field. With only one shape able to be placed per turn, with essentially a limitation on the time needed to place the shape determined by the height of the already placed shapes, the notion of quickness is also factored into this strategy. In terms of completion of the game, there is no goal. With just a high score in mind, the game sets the player up either to compete against themselves in terms of achieving a new high score or competing against others. Considering the latter, this goal of a high score allows there to be created games within this game, such as tournaments being held where money/prizes may be at stake or just friendly competitions among friends where friends may compare each other’s score for bragging rights. Furthermore, it gives players incentives to return to the game in order to perfect their strategy of quickly adapting to the randomness in the shapes that are placed in order to achieve high scores. What may not be as simple as this goal, though, is the communication of the controls of the game. For players who may not have played the original Tetris, the actions of this game may not be clear. Not all of the verbs are accounted for on the right side of the screen where there are only labeled three buttons that a user may press for things that are mainly related to the game’s logistics. There is also no sort of method of teaching the player the controls, and since this game has no level system where difficulty progression, an up front approach to explaining the controls would have been helpful. Thus, it may take time and frustration before unfamiliar players can realize these controls or understand how to score points. Altogether, Burger Tetris is a solid take on the original Tetris, and is very familiar in all aspects such that players who have played the original Tetris can easily join in on the mindless fun that is stacking blocks, creating rows, and scoring points.
Burger Tetris is a fun return to the game classics. The formatting, colors, and controls are reminiscent of classic Tetris game mechanics. Like the original, the way that the game is formatted so that the main controls and scoring are always present on the screen. Block colors cycle through a set array of colors, and randomly change through out playing. There is no goal to work towards, simply to play and have fun in the mindless stacking of blocks and collection of points. There is no uncertainty, mystery or narrative, it is a reliable game for someone to play and have fun.
I apart from this, I would have loved to have seen the mechanic of Tetris being taken further than the classic version that it is. For example, I do wonder why its titled “Burger Tetris,” and what this means. Adding some other imagery or rewards for reaching a certain score would have been an improvement upon the original. Like, if the player had reached a certain score amount, increasing the speed at which the blocks fell; Or similarly, displaying an image or other after reaching a certain score, but something all together that builds off of the original.
However, there is some room for improvement here; In my initial play through It was not apparent right away which key allowed for the player to speed up the rate at which blocks fell. In the game it is labeled “_” rather than being the down arrow that it is. It was also unlabeled how to turn the Tetris blocks, of which I learned through trial and error. Having the arrow keys and turning of the blocks clearly laid out from the beginning would be conducive for newer players that would be unfamiliar with the game mechanics. Concerning the use of arrow keys to move the blocks downward, I also ran into the problem where my browser would scroll down while playing and pressing the down arrow. I think having the game be played in full screen or using other keys would fix this.
All in all, the game accomplishes what it set out to do and is a fun interactive game to play. I would be interested to see where this game could be taken even further than where it is now.
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The game Burger Tetris is a nice callback to the classic game Tetris. Both games have the same basic rules and player actions. This game begins easily enough with the player being presented with a unique shape that slowly moves towards the bottom of the screen. The player has options for what they can do with this shape. They can rotate it in 90 degree increments and move it from left and right. How to do this is a bit unclear as there are no instructions for how to do so. The player must instead use trial and error to find out how to rotate and move the shapes. This is not too difficult to find out however, especially if one is familiar with how the original game of Tetris works. The player has a limited time to choose what they want to do with the falling shape, for once the shape touches the bottom of the screen or another shape, that is where it will stay. Shapes can only be moved from their final position when the player orders the shapes in such a way that they fill an entire row. Once the row is completed, it disappears from the screen and the shapes in the rows above it move a row down. The game becomes more complicated as the player moves further into the game. As the game moves forward, the stack of shapes grows higher and higher, causing the player to have less time to find where the best place to put the new shape is and how to figure out how to get it there. The game ends when the stack of shapes reaches the top of the screen. The only goal of this game is to get a high score. The longer the player can go without the game ending and the more rows they make disappear, the higher their score will be.
The uncertainty of victory in this game comes from the player’s skill in finding the best place for the unique shapes and the type of shape that is on screen. If the player does not have much skill in placing the shapes, they may place the blocks poorly and make the game more difficult for themselves. Poor placement of shapes may cause the player to become overwhelmed later on in the game as they are unable to clear the rows and the stack of shapes only grows higher. The player can become more skilled at placing shapes however. If the player replays the game enough they can develop this skill and become better at the game. While the player is able to improve their ability to place the shapes well, it is impossible for the player to guess what shape may appear next on the screen. No matter how good the player is at the game, if a shape is unable to fit neatly in the existing stack it will most likely be placed in an awkward spot. This placement may then make it more difficult to clear the rows and make future shapes harder to place.
Burger Tetris is very similar to the classic game of Tetris, where the goal of the game is to reach the highest score possible by manipulating the position of random shapes within the playing field. The two main actions within the game are movement and manipulation, all in light of strategically executing these actions such that a high score can be achieved where score is achieved once a row of parts of the shapes are formed. Considering this, there is more emphasis on strategy than the physical interaction of the player with the controller. I guess one could say that spamming shape manipulations at the last second before a shape sits in its permanent position once it collides with an unmovable shape already place could be a skill, but overall, the strategy lies in assuming where to place these new shapes on each turn and doing this quick enough such that this does not need to happen. Moreover, this strategy follows from the randomness of the new shapes that are placed into the playing field. With only one shape able to be placed per turn, with essentially a limitation on the time needed to place the shape determined by the height of the already placed shapes, the notion of quickness is also factored into this strategy. In terms of completion of the game, there is no goal. With just a high score in mind, the game sets the player up either to compete against themselves in terms of achieving a new high score or competing against others. Considering the latter, this goal of a high score allows there to be created games within this game, such as tournaments being held where money/prizes may be at stake or just friendly competitions among friends where friends may compare each other’s score for bragging rights. Furthermore, it gives players incentives to return to the game in order to perfect their strategy of quickly adapting to the randomness in the shapes that are placed in order to achieve high scores. What may not be as simple as this goal, though, is the communication of the controls of the game. For players who may not have played the original Tetris, the actions of this game may not be clear. Not all of the verbs are accounted for on the right side of the screen where there are only labeled three buttons that a user may press for things that are mainly related to the game’s logistics. There is also no sort of method of teaching the player the controls, and since this game has no level system where difficulty progression, an up front approach to explaining the controls would have been helpful. Thus, it may take time and frustration before unfamiliar players can realize these controls or understand how to score points. Altogether, Burger Tetris is a solid take on the original Tetris, and is very familiar in all aspects such that players who have played the original Tetris can easily join in on the mindless fun that is stacking blocks, creating rows, and scoring points.
Burger Tetris is a fun return to the game classics. The formatting, colors, and controls are reminiscent of classic Tetris game mechanics. Like the original, the way that the game is formatted so that the main controls and scoring are always present on the screen. Block colors cycle through a set array of colors, and randomly change through out playing. There is no goal to work towards, simply to play and have fun in the mindless stacking of blocks and collection of points. There is no uncertainty, mystery or narrative, it is a reliable game for someone to play and have fun.
I apart from this, I would have loved to have seen the mechanic of Tetris being taken further than the classic version that it is. For example, I do wonder why its titled “Burger Tetris,” and what this means. Adding some other imagery or rewards for reaching a certain score would have been an improvement upon the original. Like, if the player had reached a certain score amount, increasing the speed at which the blocks fell; Or similarly, displaying an image or other after reaching a certain score, but something all together that builds off of the original.
However, there is some room for improvement here; In my initial play through It was not apparent right away which key allowed for the player to speed up the rate at which blocks fell. In the game it is labeled “_” rather than being the down arrow that it is. It was also unlabeled how to turn the Tetris blocks, of which I learned through trial and error. Having the arrow keys and turning of the blocks clearly laid out from the beginning would be conducive for newer players that would be unfamiliar with the game mechanics. Concerning the use of arrow keys to move the blocks downward, I also ran into the problem where my browser would scroll down while playing and pressing the down arrow. I think having the game be played in full screen or using other keys would fix this.
All in all, the game accomplishes what it set out to do and is a fun interactive game to play. I would be interested to see where this game could be taken even further than where it is now.