Block Out
Encyclopedia
Blockout is a puzzle
video game, published in 1989 by California Dreams
, developed in Poland
by Aleksander Ustaszewski and Mirosław Zabłocki.
The game is the logical extension of Tetris
into the third dimension. In regular Tetris, the player manipulates a set of tetromino
es which fall into a two-dimensional pit (seen from the side). The aim is to solve a real-time packing problem
by forming complete rows, which then disappear and score points. Poor play leads to incomplete rows, caused by inefficient arrangements of tiles; these rows do not disappear, giving the player progressively less space and less time to play subsequent pieces. Similarly, in Blockout, the player manipulates a set of polycube
s which fall into a three-dimensional pit (seen from above; the pieces appear in the foreground and fall away). The pieces can be rotated around all three axes, and moved horizontally and vertically. The aim is to form complete layers.
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The game allows the player to choose the set of blocks they will play with and the size of the pit. Pits range from 3x3x6 to 7x7x18, giving a total of 195 possible pit sizes (counting e.g. 3x5x6 and 5x3x6 as identical). Three block sets are available — flat, basic, and extended — making a total of 585 possible game modes.
Under "Main Menu", three of the possible 585 game configurations are recommended to the player. These are called "Flat Fun", "3D Mania", and "Out of Control", and use the flat, basic and extended block sets respectively. Other features of the game include:
Demo mode: This is not a pre-recorded game of an expert playing, but a well-programmed bot
that plays a good game in any given setup. The bot finds smaller pits and more complex block sets more difficult, and achieves correspondingly lower scores.
Practice mode: A game where the pieces do not move down with time. The player can manipulate the pieces for as long as they like before dropping them into place with the space bar. This is very useful for beginners learning to navigate the 6 keys required to rotate in two directions around each of three axes. Practice mode scores are not recorded in the High Scores file.
in November.
There is also a new realtime online high score database. Players can upload not only their high score, but also their entire game, and watch replay
s from others. This allows players to learn by watching the playing and stacking techniques of other gamers, and to identify possible fake high scores.
The flat block set consists of polycubes that all fit into a single layer. These are effectively just two-dimensional polyomino
es with thickness added, and include all but one of the members of the n-polyominoes up to n=4. (The tetromino consisting of four squares in a row is excluded.)
Basic
The basic block set consists of the seven polycubes present in a soma cube
, all of which are polycubes of order three or four:
Extended
The extended block set consists of all n-polycubes up to n=5. This is a block set with 41 members, consisting of the single cube, two cubes together, the 2 tricubes, the 8 tetracubes, and the 29 pentacubes.
A 1993 study found evidence that playing Blockout improved the spatial visualization ability
of 10 to 14 year olds.
The Atari Lynx version of the game was reviewed in 1992 in Dragon
#181 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Computer puzzle game
Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....
video game, published in 1989 by California Dreams
California Dreams (company)
California Dreams is a defunct Polish computer video game developer that published games between 1987 and 1991. It contributed to the development of computer games in the late 1980s with titles such as Blockout, Street Rod, and Street Rod 2....
, developed in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
by Aleksander Ustaszewski and Mirosław Zabłocki.
The game is the logical extension of Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
into the third dimension. In regular Tetris, the player manipulates a set of tetromino
Tetromino
A tetromino is a geometric shape composed of four squares, connected orthogonally. This, like dominoes and pentominoes, is a particular type of polyomino...
es which fall into a two-dimensional pit (seen from the side). The aim is to solve a real-time packing problem
Packing problem
Packing problems are a class of optimization problems in mathematics which involve attempting to pack objects together , as densely as possible. Many of these problems can be related to real life packaging, storage and transportation issues...
by forming complete rows, which then disappear and score points. Poor play leads to incomplete rows, caused by inefficient arrangements of tiles; these rows do not disappear, giving the player progressively less space and less time to play subsequent pieces. Similarly, in Blockout, the player manipulates a set of polycube
Polycube
thumb|200px|right|The seven free tetracubesthumb|200px|right|A [[Chirality |chiral]] pentacubethumb|200px|right|Puzzle with a unique solution...
s which fall into a three-dimensional pit (seen from above; the pieces appear in the foreground and fall away). The pieces can be rotated around all three axes, and moved horizontally and vertically. The aim is to form complete layers.
Game modes
Under "Main Menu", three of the possible 585 game configurations are recommended to the player. These are called "Flat Fun", "3D Mania", and "Out of Control", and use the flat, basic and extended block sets respectively. Other features of the game include:
Demo mode: This is not a pre-recorded game of an expert playing, but a well-programmed bot
Computer game bot
A bot, most prominently in the first-person shooter types , is a type of weak AI expert system software which for each instance of the program controls a player in deathmatch, team deathmatch and/or cooperative human player. Computer bots may play against other bots and/or human players in unison,...
that plays a good game in any given setup. The bot finds smaller pits and more complex block sets more difficult, and achieves correspondingly lower scores.
Practice mode: A game where the pieces do not move down with time. The player can manipulate the pieces for as long as they like before dropping them into place with the space bar. This is very useful for beginners learning to navigate the 6 keys required to rotate in two directions around each of three axes. Practice mode scores are not recorded in the High Scores file.
High scores
The Blockout Halls of Fame list the top ten scores ever in each one of the 585 permutations. Scores can be submitted to the site, and the high score database is updated about once a year. World rankings depend on number of appearances in these tables and scores achieved, suitably corrected by "M-factor", which captures the varying difficulty of different game modes. A world championship is held each year in Germany, usually in IngolstadtIngolstadt
Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...
in November.
There is also a new realtime online high score database. Players can upload not only their high score, but also their entire game, and watch replay
Replay
Replay may refer to:*Replay , a replayed match in between two sport teams to decide in case of tie or conflict resulting from scoring, officiating, fouling or other factors...
s from others. This allows players to learn by watching the playing and stacking techniques of other gamers, and to identify possible fake high scores.
Polycube block sets
FlatThe flat block set consists of polycubes that all fit into a single layer. These are effectively just two-dimensional polyomino
Polyomino
A polyomino is a plane geometric figure formed by joining one or more equal squares edge to edge. It is a polyform whose cells are squares. It may be regarded as a finite subset of the regular square tiling with a connected interior....
es with thickness added, and include all but one of the members of the n-polyominoes up to n=4. (The tetromino consisting of four squares in a row is excluded.)
Basic
The basic block set consists of the seven polycubes present in a soma cube
Soma cube
The Soma cube is a solid dissection puzzle invented by Piet Hein in 1933 during a lecture on quantum mechanics conducted by Werner Heisenberg. Seven pieces made out of unit cubes must be assembled into a 3x3x3 cube...
, all of which are polycubes of order three or four:
-
The "L" tricube -
T tetracube: a row of three blocks with one added below the center -
L tetracube: a row of three blocks with one added below the left side -
S tetracube: bent triomino with block placed on outside of clockwise side -
Left screw tetracube: unit cube placed on top of anticlockwise side. ChiralChirality (mathematics)In geometry, a figure is chiral if it is not identical to its mirror image, or, more precisely, if it cannot be mapped to its mirror image by rotations and translations alone. For example, a right shoe is different from a left shoe, and clockwise is different from counterclockwise.A chiral object...
in 3D. -
Right screw tetracube: unit cube placed on top of clockwise side. Chiral in 3D. -
Branch tetracube: unit cube placed on bend. Not chiral in 3D.
The extended block set consists of all n-polycubes up to n=5. This is a block set with 41 members, consisting of the single cube, two cubes together, the 2 tricubes, the 8 tetracubes, and the 29 pentacubes.
Critical reception
The New York Times reviewed the game in an article about educational software for mathematics, writing that Blockout "doesn't pretend to be educational, but the skills required to master it are not unrelated to mathematics, particularly geometry."A 1993 study found evidence that playing Blockout improved the spatial visualization ability
Spatial Visualization Ability
Spatial visualization ability or Visual-spatial ability is the ability to mentally manipulate 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional figures. It is typically measured with simple cognitive tests and is predictive of user performance with some kinds of user interfaces.-Measurement:The cognitive tests used...
of 10 to 14 year olds.
The Atari Lynx version of the game was reviewed in 1992 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#181 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
External links
- http://www.blockout.de Website with a blockout game download, high scores, world championships and a guestbook
- http://members.chello.at/theodor.lauppert/games/blockout.htm Information about different Blockout Releases
- http://www.3dtris.de/blockout_essay a Blockout Essay from Igor Vukomanovic about Blockout tactics
- http://www.blockout.net/blockout2/ GPL version of the original BlockOut