Yes, I like huge adventures, with a lot of systems and mechanics, and a deep story that will make me cry; there's some moments that all I want is to submerge in a big game and have fun. But, specially nowadays working 40 hours per week, I also have my time to relax, put a podcast on and just play a small and cozy puzzle game. The concept behind Storyblocks: The King was really cool, but the execution was so bad that I just came disappointed after some hours.

In theory, Storyblocks: The King is a choose-your-own-adventure game (where you choose how the story can continue) mixed with a block placement puzzle, what is genuinely a good idea. CYODs are commonly more focused only on the narrative, so having a more thinky element there could be really cool. The presentation here isn't the best, but works as a generic medieval setting, what can also be said about the plot and characters too: most of them feels like an mediocre children book.

In reality, nothing really works that well. The "puzzle" is just connecting two points in a grid using dominoes and the "challenge" is create a path big enough to use all the pieces available. There's no actual mechanics being introduced, you just put the blocks in a void until two cubes are connected. Sometimes, you have two "goal" squares and the one you choose to connect indicates where the story goes. No, you don't have any information about those "options", so you just go on pure guess.

I imagine that on PC, using a mouse, Storyblocks: The King has a better usability, but playing it on the Nintendo Switch was also a nightmare by itself. The control choice is strange — it isn't okay to use Y instead of the Home button to open the menu, you know —, all the grid navigation is cursor-based even on a joystick and you can't even use touch controls on Portable Mode. Play this game is a challenge by itself, and if you want to find other "complete stories", you need to repeat the first levels every time you start a new "run".

As a fan of low-budget cozy puzzle games, I'm really disappointed. As I said, Storyblocks: The King has a great potential conceptually, but the execution is far away from a pleasant experience. The stories are generic, the "puzzle" is repetitive and lacks any kind of depth, and the controls make it even hard to get any fun from the package. I know that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover (or by a review from a blog), but you are probably better going after other stories.