Pushing blocks in video games feels as though it shouldn't be an act of aggression. The likes of Sokoban and the many games it inspired do not exactly encourage acts of crate-based violence. Much of the time if you see a box, it's probably got something useful inside.
Of course, there are outliers, and Pushy and Pully in Blockland is one of them. Despite its sugary-sweet exterior, this is a game in which blocks are used to crush enemies with extreme prejudice. Its closest companion is the somewhat obscure Don't Pull segment of Capcom's innovative arcade game Three Wonders, which Pushy and Pully in Blockland is reminiscent of both aesthetically and in its gameplay. Unfortunately, it doesn't capture the joyful kineticism of that title.
Pushy and Pully in Blockland has you (and, optionally, a friend) take on the titular roles and head out into blocky battle across a host of single-screen arenas, each filled with both enemies and blocks. Facing a block and hitting the A button will push it, sending it careening across the screen until it is intercepted by another block. If it hits an enemy, it'll crush them. You get it, you've seen this type of gameplay before. Each block is graced with a symbol and if you match three, you'll transform the blocks into something new – a bomb that can destroy multiple enemies, or a valuable gem, for example.
So far so breezy, and the fact that levels can be cleared either by destroying all the monsters or destroying all the blocks means that even the occasional puzzle-based stages can be skipped if you're struggling to figure out how to nail every last one of the critters. And that's the major problem here – there's little challenge, especially with two players. Sure, there's a difficulty spike around halfway through the second world but with essentially no punishment for running out of lives (you can continue immediately), there's almost no lasting difficulty to speak of, so Pushy and Pully in Blockland can quickly feel somewhat rote.
The art is appealing and has charm – the way Pushy and Pully wrap up warm for the ice world is especially adorable. Though the sprites are somewhat amateurish and lacking in definition, they're cute as a button, with a pastel-ish look that's evocative of bright, colourful arcade games; it's surprising, then, that a chiptune soundtrack wasn't used. Instead, there's somewhat unfitting and generic piano-synth music which, while pleasant and well-composed, doesn't inspire any urgency whatsoever.
Boss battles sprinkled throughout the game add a touch of variety, but the decision to only save your game after beating them means you'll be playing many stages in a row before you can quit, which isn't ideal. Of course you can just put your Switch into sleep mode, but if you want to dive in and play a handful of levels then hope back onto Astral Chain or something, that isn't an option. It's a bit of a strange choice, because in every other respect Pushy and Pully in Blockland is extremely friendly stuff.
It's not without fun to be had, but we wish there was a little more to it. You'll sail through it once, and you may enjoy yourself. But any further playthroughs would be pushing it.
Comments 20
Seriously? Pushy and Pully? Even for those names alone, points should be subtracted...
@ThanosReXXX I'm guessing it's a riff off of this.
Watching this is probably a better use of your time than playing that.
@rjejr Ha! That brightened up my day. Too bad about the crappy quality, though. So, how have you been doing? I'm assuming that since you're still posting off and on, that things are okay, at least for you?
Salt n Pepper is here
@ThanosReXXX Yeah things are good for us, thanks for asking. With a stable genius as our leader what could possibly go wrong? 🤣
I was going to make a joke that the VCR image quality of the vid was still better than the graphics in the game but I know some people like squinting and ruining their eyesight so I decided not to be so mean.
@rjejr Aw, growing soft in your old age?
@ThanosReXXX Soft all over. #pandemiclife
Thank you, Stuart. There are so many, many games on Switch, it would be impossible to review them all in depth. A mini review such as this is helpful because it brings attention to the game and gives enough info so interested readers can decide if it deserves further research.
@rjejr Oh, boy. That's gonna be some kind of blowback when all of this is over, then...
@ThanosReXXX "when all of this is over"
Over? I'm thinking never ending waves...
Waves, like turtles, all the way down.

Was interested but it looks like it lacks any depth or clever design
@rjejr Just turtles? I thought it was always turtles and elephants:

Reminds me of Pengo.
Lovely aesthetic, a definite sale purchase.
@ThanosReXXX Don't think I've ever seen elephants in that context, just turtles all the way down, sorry.
But as usual you are correct, and I'm ashamed to admit my failure.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down
@rjejr Ah, fret yeh not, my friend. it's mostly because I have no one to distract me from being able to spend endless hours of searching on Google, so I've got that going for me.
Which, come to think of it, isn't all that great at all...
@ThanosReXXX Should make social distancing easier for you I suppose.
Hows the reaction over there when people find out our you're an American? Like % of pro-vs-con Trump support.
@rjejr Oh, after 40 years, they've kind of warmed up to me. It's only when I get to meet new people. But since I speak fluent "Amsterdams", including the local accent, and I don't always need to tell them my background, I can dodge many of those potential bullets.
If conversations even drift towards anything US-related, it's all about the idiot in the White House, mass shootings or how the virus is handled, and the opinions they hold are all ones that I agree with, so I never feel the need to step out of my comfortable Dutch shell and play the insulted Yank card...
@ThanosReXXX Well that's good. There's enough confrontation in the world as it is.
@rjejr True, that.
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