Dad's Gaming Addiction

I’m terrible at concentration.  I’m the type of person that is lucky to remember what he had for breakfast that morning.  I write everything down in a handy pocket tablet so that I don’t forget important things…like getting dressed.  It’s for this reason that I groaned in protest when I saw this game appear on Desura…not because I thought it might be a bad game, but because my ego was bound to take hit.  “Stack Overflow” is electronic concentration with buffs and power-ups, much like “Mario Kart” is to regular racing games.

Stack Overload (PC)

The goal is to match tiles, and doing so grants you various effects.  Both you and your opponent have “health” in the form of stacks.  Stacks start off empty and your goal will be to overflow your opponent’s stack before he does the same to you.  Some tiles, when matched, add blocks to your opponent’s stack while others get rid of blocks from your own.  Other tiles increase or decrease the capacity of the stacks…obviously you’ll want to increase yours while decreasing your opponent’s stack.

There isn’t an options menu, but you can turn sound on or off.  Players will be able to participate in instant play or try out story mode.  I personally like the options you’re given in instant play.  You’ll be able to tell the game what blocks you’d like to include in the game and which ones to leave out.  You can also specify how many pairs of each type will show up, and each pair will be unique in some way to prevent easy matches.  Stack capacity and grid size can be customized as well, making games longer or shorter at will.

You can customize your play session how you’d like.

“Stack Overload” is an excellent mind-teaser and the fact that it is customizable keeps me playing.  The help menu will instruct players as to what each tile type does, but it may take a game or two for players to fully grasp the concept.  It didn’t take me long to get into the swing of things, though I’m looking forward to seeing more tile types and game modes.  The game is free, so I can’t complain if that doesn’t end up happening. Some more menu options would certainly help make the game a bit more user-friendly.  Overall, it’s a fun game in spurts and worth checking out.

Final Verdict: 8/10

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You can watch me summarize and play the game, as well as download the game yourself, via the links below.

http://www.desura.com/games/stack-overload

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdWQI4qMu_s

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