Like other popular games ported to iOS, Minecraft: Pocket Edition has spawned an abundance of "me too" clones attempting to cash in on the game's prolific momentum. Block Fortress certainly looks like just another carbon copy to throw on the pile, but it's a very different experience once you dig beneath the surface. Instead of grand exploration and adventure, this frenetic tower defense game mixes first-person shooter combat, base building, and an addicting RPG progression and unlocking system to create something that feels fresh and fun.
Block Fortress tasks you with surviving and defending your base against wave after wave of increasingly persistent goblinoid foes. You can plunk your base down anywhere you like on a randomly generated map, but once you settle on a spot, the focus quickly moves to laying out turrets, walls, traps, and energy nodes to power your defenses. When you're ready, you trigger the next round of assault, and dive into the world in a first-person view to run around and shoot it out while protecting your stronghold. Juggling the first-person shooter controls in the heat of battle is a little persnickety, though it evens out amidst the ebb and flow of fighting and fortifying.
The fast-paced action itself, including the strategic downtime you'll spend rebuilding and expanding your base between rounds, is intensely absorbing, but it's Block Fortress' persistent progression system that keeps you playing long after you inevitably fail a mission for the umpteenth time. Leveling up your character opens up access to new weapons, gear, base defenses, and gadgets to use on the battlefield, giving you strong incentive to keep battling across the game's diverse map regions. Fighting in these distinct areas also earns you special resources that can be spent in a separate crafting menu, which let you permanently upgrade and improve your gear and help you progress further in battles.
The bottom line. Block Fortress hides ample fun and depth behind its clone mask, yielding an arguably more entertaining experience than the iOS hit it draws its visual inspiration from.
of 5
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 4.3 or later
Great mix of several distinct gameplay genres. Addictive progression system. Lots of unlockables.
Controls can be a little unwieldy in combat.
