Blockout

Blockout
Company type	Video game
Industry	Video games
Founded	1989
Founder	Aleksander Ustaszewski, Mirosław Zabłocki
Successor	Blockout II
Headquarters	Poland, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Aleksander Ustaszewski, Mirosław Zabłocki
Products	Blockout (video game)
Owner	California Dreams (original publisher), American Technos (arcade edition)

Blockout is a puzzle video game originally published in 1989 by California Dreams and developed in Poland by Aleksander Ustaszewski alongside Mirosław Zabłocki. An arcade edition was later released by American Technos. The game represents an unofficial three-dimensional reinterpretation of Tetris.

Gameplay

Players observe a three-dimensional rectangular well from an overhead perspective, where variously shaped polycube blocks descend sequentially. Utilizing three distinct buttons, players rotate the blocks along the three spatial axes, while a joystick allows horizontal and vertical positioning. Blocks become fixed once they land on the pit floor or atop other cubes. A fast-drop feature enables rapid placement of blocks. When a complete layer without gaps—referred to as a "face"—is formed, that layer is cleared, causing any cubes above to fall down and awarding points; clearing multiple faces at once results in higher scores and triggers a "Block Out" bonus when the pit is fully emptied. Each stage demands clearing a predetermined number of faces.

As players advance through levels, the speed at which blocks fall increases, pit sizes vary, and new block configurations are introduced. Every fifth level includes a 30-second bonus round set within a 2x2 pit, where players aim to clear as many faces as possible. The game concludes if blocks stack to the top of the pit; however, in bonus rounds, the stage ends immediately when this occurs, allowing players to proceed.

The game also features a two-player competitive mode where each participant controls their own pit and falling blocks. Successfully clearing a face causes an additional row of cubes to rise in the opponent’s pit. Victory is achieved either by completing the required number of faces first or by forcing the rival’s stack to reach the pit’s upper limit. Winners have the option to continue with single-player gameplay afterward.

Ports

Besides various console adaptations of Blockout, two versions were developed for the NES: an official but unreleased prototype named "Block Out," created in 1990 by Technos Japan Corp., and an unlicensed imitation called 3D Block, programmed by Hwang Shinwei and self-published along with RCM Group around 1989/1990.

Reception

Blockout garnered favorable reviews across different platforms. MegaTech assigned it a score of 91%, while Mega rated it at 67%. PC Leisure gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The Atari Lynx edition received perfect marks from Dragon (magazine) and an 8/10 rating from IGN, with critic Robert A. Jung commending its engaging and strategic gameplay along with its diverse options, presenting it as a more intricate alternative to Tetris.

In 1991, Entertainment Weekly awarded the game an A grade and ranked it as the 17th best game available that year. In Japan, Game Machine listed Block Out as the tenth highest-grossing table arcade game in March 1990.

Beyond its entertainment appeal, Blockout has been recognized for educational benefits; a study conducted in 1993 demonstrated that it enhanced spatial visualization abilities in children aged 10 to 14. Although not explicitly designed for education, its mechanics involve skills related to geometry and mathematics, as noted by The New York Times.

Legacy

Around 2007, an authorized modern remake titled Blockout II was released under license from Kadon Enterprises to legally utilize the Blockout trademark. Developed as an open-source project, this version broadened accessibility by being ported to systems such as Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu, and the OpenPandora handheld device.

In 2021, an officially licensed browser-based edition built with JavaScript and HTML5 was introduced, further expanding the franchise’s reach and availability on modern platforms.

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