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Twinstack is an interesting game. It is one of the most bizarre takes on [i]Tetris[/i] that I have ever seen. If you are a fan of [i]Tetris[/i], you almost have to give this game a shot. But be forewarned, this is not the same game.
First of all, the set up is horizontal instead of vertical. While this is an odd setup, I realized right away why it was done. You are simultaneously stacking from both ends. There are two options available, one that allows you to take your time stacking from the left, then the right, then the left, then the right. But the really fun part of this game is the dual-stacking mode, where you have one hand on WASD and another hand on the arrow keys, and the blocks are "falling" toward the middle. This offers some really interesting gameplay mechanic for sure, because everything is so strange.
One of the things that is definitely noticeable right away if you play [i]Tetris[/i] is that "Tet" part, where all of the falling blocks are combinations of 4 blocks. This game gives combinations of 3-5 blocks, so it completely throws you off as soon as you see them. All of the standard pieces from [i]Tetris[/i] are there, but this game introduces a few more headache pieces as well.
Another change that is more subtle but would be noticed is the number of cells in one line. Normally you expect to see 10, but this game shorts it by one to only 9 cells in each line. I can't even call them "rows" because they are more "columns." All of the terminology you would normally use to describe this game goes right out the window.
The music is not on by default, since a lot of players may wish to concentrate 100% on playing, and not worry about the music. But should you wish to do so, you can turn it on. Please look at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen when choosing game mode to start, there are a few well-hidden gray-ish circles that can be toggled.
The background was giving me some difficulty because the pieces are not uniform in color, but each block comprising of the pieces are different from each other. The background blended at times into the foreground and caused me some grief. I asked about this in the discussion forums, and as soon as the developer had a chance (within 24 hours) this concern was not only responded to but already fixed with an update to be able to toggle the background and to have better lighting.
Back to the gameplay, you know exactly how the games will progress, because you understand the fundamentals of a game that has been around for ages. The altered gameplay offers something new, with the simultaneous "dual-wield" function very interesting and worth trying out. The altered directions of "falling" makes this game something to get used to, and it's forgiving in that the blocks fall at an extremely slow pace to start. If you start the game with the alternating sides, you will think that the game is a joke, with ridiculously slow pace. But if you get into the simultaneous mode, you will soon realize that despite its slow falling speed, this game is quite a challenge.
All in all, this is a bizarre twist on a classic game with some really strange changes that keeps the game engaging. The most interesting game mode is the simultaneous stacking from both sides. I would recommend this game to any [i]Tetris[/i] fan but you have to know that you are not getting that game, but something totally different.
[quote]I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.[/quote]
