Stackopolis Sunday, June 18, 2006

Stackopolis is a free, Flash-based game that bills itself as "the most addictive game since Tetris". And while it's fun and original, Tetris it's not.

The concept is simple: rearrange blocks to match the given blueprint before the timer runs out. The gameplay is fast-paced and challenging, but the interface often adds a level of frustration: the fixed three-quarter view can hide parts of the board, making it difficult to drop the blocks where you want them. If you hide a block accidentally, you can kiss the board goodbye: there's never have enough time to move them out of the way and back again.

I played through the first dozen levels; here are the codes:

Level	Code
1	(No code)
2	SIDEWALK
3	LAMPPOST
4	STATEPEN
5	PARKLANE
6	MSOFFICE
7	DWELLING
8	GLASSBOX
9	RAADMAAN
10	TOYBLOCS
11	BLADERUN
12	PAVEMENT

One thing about the codes: even though they're displayed in uppercase as you type them, make sure that you enter them in lower case. Otherwise the game doesn't recognize it and starts you on the first board.

Overall, a fun game with decent replay value, worth killing some time with, but missing the elegance and stickiness of a game like Tetris. Rating: 70/100