There is not one single person on the face of the planet that does not like to play with blocks. Its one of the fundamental ways we learn. You pick up a block and you instantly have a grasp of sight, weight and texture - then you throw or drop it and you've got an insight into physics. Then begins building.
In the most base level of enjoyment, the creators of Bontago (or, more correctly, Bontãgo) have created a competitive and gorgeous game around that slight concept of blocks. The idea is to create a tower. The higher you go, the larger area you command. In this radiating disc around your tower, you can begin another tower, grow that one huge and expand further your reach.
While you're doing this, another block using tower builder will be across the disc doing the same. If he or she creates a structure, or series of structures, large enough to encompass all flags on the board at once... well... lets just say you should do that first. To aide (or hinder) you in this quest for more expanse, there will be the occasional "extra" piece, such as a volcano, rocket or earthquake. Such is life when the entire playing field tilts, sending blocks flying off the edge.
Needless to say this is an incredibly versatile game. Most of what I've said so far is customisable and the opponent you're against can either be robotic, or real via LAN or Internet. Its an incredible experience.
This game has an unbelievably good concept. Reminds me of that old game with wood blocks in which you would build towers... It has some interesting GFX and physics, but the atmosphere feels somewhat bland, likely because of a blank background. Also, it is very buggy when sometimes dropping a block. Often I set a block down very gently on a stack and it "vibrates" and eventually stops or falls off. And the controlled area (your large colored bubble) often appears and disappears while you are trying to place a block, and most of the time it just drops the block anywhere which usually ends in the demise of a tower.
All bugs set aside though, this is a very entertaining game and with a little revision could definitely become a masterpiece. It is definitely worth the download as well, even for those dialuppers who are like "eh, it looks good but IS it good?" JUST GO FOR IT, You Will Have A Blast!
The bricks' physics is pretty good. There is just one annoying thing. You rotate the bricks using the mouse. That's frustrating, time consuming (there are time limits), inaccurate and unnecessary. I think this game should test the players' intelligence more than their dexterity. It's really annoying when you want to place a brick absolutely straight and you struggle rotating it between -2 and 2 degrees angle. That's why I didn't play for more than 20 minutes.
I must admit it was a pleasure building while listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons remix which is included as the game's music.
Give it a try, there aren't many games of this kind.
I love the concept but I think it was poorly done. The block physics were done well but the game play gets boring. The AI is stupid and if you try to play a team battle, all the computer controlled characters try to drop a block in the same spot, leading to chaos. However the block rotation is good, despite what another reviewer said you can rotate the blocks by using "S" and "Home" not just the mouse (similar to tetris). The game does crash every once in awhile and the multiplayer didn't work 100% of the time. I would download it and try it out, 20 or so mbs isn't that much with today's harddrives so no harm done.
This game is just simply... Amazing!!! It's such a simple game, yet so addictive! And it's true. People love playing with blocks. I could play this game for hours and not get bored. Both gameplay and graphics are great, especially for a free game. You HAVE to play this game if you haven't already. I give it 12/10!