Side Decide from Blue Volcano is a colorful and chill puzzle game in which you control a wooden cube as you take it from point A to point B. Check our Side Decide review!
Side Decide from indie Blue Volcano – a.k.a. Brendan Votano – is a colorful and chill puzzle game in which you control a wooden block as you focus on a simple goal: taking it from point A to point B. Your aim will be to complete each level in as few moves as possible as you try to get a gold star rating for each level. There are 121 levels to complete, with the difficulty increasing at a steady pace without feeling overwhelming. There are some additional blocks to consider as well – more on these in a bit.
As you roll your wooden block from tile to tile, you’ll need to make sure that the figure on the cube’s side that you’re trying to roll matches the one on the tile you want to roll onto. For each level that you play, you’ll be able to see the count limit for getting a Bronze, Silver, or Gold star. You’ll also be able to review your best move count, total play count, review the board’s dimensions, and check out its difficulty. Thighs start off easy enough with a small 6×1 as you learn the basics, but you’ll soon be taking on huge levels that will test your skills.
You’ll control your wooden block with the left analog stick as you roll it one tile at a time by pressing one of four diagonal directions. Each side of your block has a different design of a set color, and to move onto a new tile, said design must match that of the tile… along with its orientation! If you land on a tile with a circle, that will allow you to rotate your cube with the L and R buttons so that you can continue to roll down a different path toward your goal.
You can use the right analog stick or the ZL and ZR buttons to rotate the camera as needed in order to get a better view. Pressing up or down on the right analog stick will also allow you to zoom in and out as needed so that you can get a closer look at what you’re dealing with. This will end up being crucial for levels after the halfway mark, when things start to get a bit more complicated.
You’ll soon run into Wildcard blocks. Wildcard blocks are easy to spot since they have a star on them and are a bright yellow that is hard to miss. Wildcard blocks can be used with any side of your wooden block, which will certainly change how you approach subsequent puzzles that use them! There are also falling blocks with a huge exclamation point that you can only roll over once before they fall into the void, thus keeping you from retracing your steps. And once you run into teleporting blocks that will make it possible for you to move between them by pressing the A button…
If you’re the type of gamer who likes to 100% games, then you’ll be happy to learn there’s an in-game achievement system on Side Decide for you to work on as well. There are 20 different achievements to unlock, with objectives related to obtaining Bronze, Silver, and Gold stars for all levels in the game – in set increments – as well as for completing all stages in the different difficulty groups, which will reward you with the remaining achievements. When aiming for Gold stars, do remember that rotating your block counts as a move!
Side Decide is a colorful and chill puzzle experience in which you’ll roll a block around levels of increasing difficulty as you try to match the shape and orientation of each of the block’s sides to make it to the finish line. It’s a puzzle game that you can take on at your own pace since there are no timers rushing toward the finish line block. Side Decide is out on Nintendo Switch with a $6.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This Side Decide review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Blue Volcano.
