«Previous post | Next post»

There are plenty of puzzle games out there on the Internet, from indie games found on Game Jolt and Steam to flash games on Newgrounds. However, one of the most popular puzzle types is the tile-matching puzzles with “Tetris” and “Puyo Puyo” leading the genre. With all the clones and indie games out there it’s difficult to stand out from the crowd. “Raining Blobs” has managed to take a bit of the spotlight on Steam with its pixel graphics, cute girls, and relentless difficulty.

The basics of “Raining Blobs’” gameplay is similar to the ones that you will find in “Puyo Puyo”. Blobs rain down from the top of the panel and the objective is to build Big Piles to clear. Eventually, you’ll get a couple of Star Blobs of the color (s) you’ll need to clear them with. When you are facing an opponent, your goal is to make as many big piles as you can and clear them in Combos. So that you can send a load of Garbage (essentially white blobs that plop down and need to be cleared before it’s too late, and when your dealing with Garbage yourself. The amount can be reduced, or cleared by clearing piles and making Combos before they drop down.

The view is great, and the ladies are cute.

There are four game modes to choose from. “Arcade” is the classic versus and “Co-Op” mode, which is all local player (from what I read the developer was fond of couch gaming as a kid so more props to him) and can support up to eight players. And If you want to get crazy. Then you can have a 16 Player CPU versus mode, though it has to be unlocked by a cheat (the dev made a video about entering mode on YouTube). Tournament is your story mode: beat the eight anime style girls and find all their endings. This mode starts off easy so you can get to get into the groove but after stage two, all the Blobs and Garbage will start to rain down on you.

So you’ll need to combo some big piles if you want to see any ending. “Endless Battle” is the mode where you just keep clearing piles until you lose. You can also have an opponent in this mode as well to kick it up a notch. And finally there’s the puzzle mode where you try to clear a panel with just one pair of Blobs. It’s easy to do but it keeps you on your toes when the puzzles become more complex.

It´s hard to believe that they are friends. As they seem to trash-talk each other quite a bit.

The art direction for this game is all pixel graphics. The stage backgrounds have fluid animations with plenty going on, such as “Fairish Wheel”, wind blowing on leafs, and waterfalls. There are also 8-bit sprites of the anime girls, and they have some nice animations as well. Out of their animations, their anime-waterfall-crying sprites are the most entertaining to view. While their 8-bit sprites are animated the girls are static images within the background of the panels. Though this is the case, they are actually cute. After getting some levels (starting at levels 25-30) they start to change ranging from adorable to sexy. And since it’s not very distracting, it’s some nice fan service to add in for motivation.

The sound effects are what you would expect from an arcade puzzle game. While it might not seem special, the effects fit right in with the puzzle genre such as the sound of clearing Big Piles and the thuds of Garbage landing. The music is upbeat and catchy throughout the game, and it’s some of the best I’ve heard in a puzzle game. The entire soundtrack is one of those you would want to listen to outside the game to help you work. Unfortunately, there’s no soundtrack bonus or DLC that goes with the game.

Nola has it going on in “Raining Blobs” but she forgot her umbrella

There are options to use either controllers or the keyboard (there are two control schemes on one keyboard). However, if you want elbow room or play with eight other people, then I would suggest using controllers all the way. You have buttons for rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise, drop more quickly, and fast drop (instant drop). Fans of “Tetris” and “Puyo Puyo” will feel right at home with the controls. And while it’s possible to play on the keyboard. The game can support up to eight controllers, so there’s no need for two players to huddle around the keyboard during multiplayer.

Pros:
+ Great Pixel Art accompanied by catchy music.
+ Fast-pace tile-matching gameplay that’s easy to learn.
+ Leaderboards to test your mantle and aim for the top score.
+ Anime/Sexy anime girls who will show off when hitting higher levels.
+ 8 Player Local Versus/Co-op.

Cons:
– A bit of a difficulty spike in Tournament Mode after stage two.
– Said difficulty spike could hinder a person from completing tournament mode before practice.

Gameplay: 3.5/5
Graphics: 4.5/5
Sound/Music: 4/5
Controls: 3.5/5
Replay value: 4/5

tgg grade 4 out of 5

Verdict: 4/5
“Raining Blobs” is a fun puzzle game that has that bit of fan service to motivate you, but it’s not necessarily for the causal crowd. This is more a game for the hardcore “Tetris/Puyo Puyo” players. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a challenge, a good party game (or just need a puzzle fix). Then look no further than “Raining Blobs”! And as an extra bonus, the game´s ladies aim to please you 😉

Title: Raining Blobs
Developer: Endi Milojkoski
Format: PC, Mac, Linux
Genre: Indie, Strategy, Tile-Matching Puzzle
Resolution: 1680 x 1050 (Full Screen does not list resolution)
Release date: 2016-01-16
Difficulty: Hard (spikes depending on mode)
Spent time: 3+ hours
Average grade internationally: N/A (as of writing) Gamerankings.com
PEGI/ESRB age rating: PEGI 12+/Teen
Price: $9.99