As the popular TikTok video goes, “You got games on your phone?” One game that many students at Yutan have on their phone is Block Blast. Block Blast gives the player three shaped blocks to place in a limited space with the goal of creating rows to eliminate as many blocks as possible. Players earn points based on the amount and combination of rows eliminated and then can compete to break their high score.

 “I saw other people playing it, and it’s kind of like Tetris. And so I felt like it’s kind of a skills game. So I thought I could be really good at that,” junior Delaney Shield said. 

Once the game is fully downloaded, there are two modes the player can choose to play. Classic mode is the freeplay setting where the player achieves a high score. Adventure mode has levels that players have to beat in order to get to the next stage. 

“I did adventure mode, and I feel like adventure mode helped me be able to pass those levels and get a high score, and that’s what helped me be so good at classic mode,” Shield said. 

When players achieve a high enough score in classic mode, the game will give the players benefits within the game.

“A certain score, I think 12,000, you get this little button at the bottom where you can refresh the blocks, and it gives you a new set of blocks if you don’t like your first option. So the more combos you get, the more you can refresh it,” junior Addi Smith said. 

Once players have learned the rules of the game, in most cases they can’t put it down. 

 “I would say I play Block Blast every day to every other day. Probably just depends on my mood or what I’m doing, if I’m bored or not. I think it’s kind of fun, but I’m also competitive, so I like to try to beat other people’s scores,” junior Derrick Seay said. 

Even though Block Blast is individual gameplay, many players like to compare and outdo each other’s scores. Shield and Smith have been competing ever since they downloaded the game at the beginning of the school year. 

“Since me and Delaney are very competitive with it, we send each other our scores every single time we get a high score, and so we can get really competitive. We want to beat each other every single time,” Smith said. “She’s texted me a really high score, and I don’t think I can beat it, so I get super mad, and I don’t text her back because I’m so mad she has a higher score than me. But eventually I’ll text her back like, ‘Oh, good job. I’ll beat that.’”

Shield is currently in the lead with a high score of 64,492 compared to Smith’s high score of 46,686, which are both higher than most players. Due to the amount of points she has, some players doubt Shield’s Block Blast skills and have alluded to different ways she earned this score. 

“I think Delaney’s high score is way too high. I also think she’s a cheater because there’s no way it’s that high. I’ve tried to get that high [and] can’t even get past 7,000. I have no clue how it’s like in the 60,000s. So she’s faking it,” Seay said. 

However, Shield says her high score is simply a reflection of how often she plays the game. To Shield, Block Blast presents the same level of difficulty to all players—she just plays and researches more than most. 

“I like to think of Block Blast as an even level playing ground. I have all of the opportunities that the other competitors have. I just spend more time playing and strategizing,” Shield said. 

Part of her research isn’t only how to improve her skills but how the game can influence and benefit her mind. 

“Studies have shown that playing Block Blast can make people smarter. It enhances your logical abilities and trains your brain. It can be a relaxing puzzle game but can also enhance logical abilities for your brain,” Shield said. 

While Block Blast does have beneficial factors, some players can form an obsession with it. 

“I started playing it and got really addicted to it. That’s all I think about right now. I literally think of Block Blast when I close my eyes about ready to go to bed,” Smith said. 

Because of the addictive fun and strategy, these players encourage others to download the game if they haven’t already. 

“I think people should download Block Blast because it is a really fun game, it’s competitive trying to get better scores than other people and it’s a good game to take up free time,” Seay said. “It’s super addictive, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a simple game to play.”