One of the greatest challenges in reviewing falling-shape puzzle games is doing so without referencing a certain Russian classic. Tetris really is an insanely influential game; it's often inescapable shorthand for describing its imitators.
In Switch & Drop, a freemium title from Chillingo, you must face a gentle tide of falling, horizontal blocks. Each block has a selection of coloured squares, and you must move and augment them to match the coloured squares. Match three or more squares of the same colour to make them disappear. You have limited time or number of turns to reach a designated score or until the screen fills up (whichever happens first).
Sound familiar?
Switch & Drop even starts to resemble Tetris after a while – forming a landscape of falling blocks and jagged skylines. Still, if you're going to imitate a game, it might as well be one of the best of all time. Switch & Drop plays well and is aesthetically pleasing, with nice electronic music and landscape that looks like soft paper. Locking blocks into place generates satisfying click sounds.
Because it's a freemium game, expect occasional ads (some of which are shrill), and requests to invite friends. It might not be a classic of its genre, but Switch & Drop is attractive, understated and gently compulsive.
