What an excellent little block-dropper. It manages to get around all the usual problems of physics-based tetrises (PBTs):
- In most PBTs, you need to play as straight-edged as possible, and if a piece goes diagonal, it becomes a long-lasting major problem. In SSSS, this is still sometimes a problem, but it's not avoidable, because the squishy pieces and leftover goop mean that pieces just go diagonal all the time whether you like it or not. However, dealing with the mess is a lot easier because the pieces give you so much wiggle room.
- In most PBTs, the impossibility of perfect rigid-body simulation means that often it's a strategy to just slam pieces down on top as hard as possible, hoping to compress the pieces on the bottom enough to clear a line. In this game the gradual compression is a feature, not a bug. That said, there isn't even a way to slam pieces down.
In addition, there is an extra challenge that this game introduces:
- You can't simply clear lines, you also have to drain the leftover goop! The liquid drains out of the lower corners, so if you have pieces blocking the corners, you can end up with jelly build-up in the middle of the board, which makes stacking a little more difficult, and can dilute your piece density, making compression line clears less likely.
I do wonder how the line clear detection works. Most PBTs do this by checking the density of discrete regions on the board of height 1, and most mark what those areas are on the side of the board, so you can see if you're satisfying one or if your density is regrettably split between two regions. This game doesn't have those markings, so I'm not sure how the line clearing works, but I have a suspicion that it's counting square-centers in the regions rather than density or area covered (which mean the same thing in rigid-body simuations, but not when the pieces are squishy like this). This is also evidenced by the fact that unlike most PBTs I've played, SSSS doesn't slice pieces at arbitrary angles; it leaves behind remnants that are made of full squares.
(I talk about "most" physics-based tetrises as though I've played a lot but actually I've only played Butsuris and Not Tetris.)
As for the presentation of the game, the graphics are plain but fitting; the pieces are especially well-rendered. The sounds of the pieces moving around are very satisfying, and the characters are adorable. I didn't think I had a squishy objects kink but this game is making me rethink that.
If I have a complaint, it's a complaint which is secretly a compliment: I want more! I want harder modes, modes with larger boards and pieces!
In summary, this game is extremely fun for a tetris fiend like me, and I'll probably be continuing to play it for days if not weeks if not months.