TiQal
Encyclopedia
TiQal is a Mayan
-themed downloadable Tetris variant created by Slapdash Games for Xbox Live Arcade
and Windows-based PCs. The title was released on Marketplace
on March 26, 2008 for 800 Microsoft Points
($10 USD).
TiQal is a rising block puzzle game set in the pre-Columbian
Yucatán Peninsula
in which the player shoots rotatable Tetris
-like block formations from the top of the screen to form 2x2 square blocks. The blocks glow for a few seconds before collapsing, allowing the player to create larger combination forms, which creates larger bonuses and occasionally releases one or more Ix Chel Hearts. Quickly creating block matches creates chains, which increases the power-up meter. The larger the chain, the more powerful the release of power-ups that affect the game board.
The player loses a life when the bricks reach the top of the board, and the game ends when the player loses with no lives available. When a player loses a life, the bricks retreat, rather than restart the level.
The level ends when the progress meter is completely filled.
as well in that it tours the Yucatán Peninsula, and between levels, gives short lessons about Mayan culture and Mesoamerica
.
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
-themed downloadable Tetris variant created by Slapdash Games for Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
and Windows-based PCs. The title was released on Marketplace
Xbox Live Marketplace
The Xbox Live Marketplace is a virtual market designed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console that allows Xbox Live members to download purchased or promotional content...
on March 26, 2008 for 800 Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points are the currency of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Games for Windows - Live Marketplace, Windows Live Gallery, and Zune online stores. The points allow users to purchase content without a credit card and to reduce the number of small credit card transaction fees, which Microsoft would...
($10 USD).
Gameplay
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
in which the player shoots rotatable Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
-like block formations from the top of the screen to form 2x2 square blocks. The blocks glow for a few seconds before collapsing, allowing the player to create larger combination forms, which creates larger bonuses and occasionally releases one or more Ix Chel Hearts. Quickly creating block matches creates chains, which increases the power-up meter. The larger the chain, the more powerful the release of power-ups that affect the game board.
The player loses a life when the bricks reach the top of the board, and the game ends when the player loses with no lives available. When a player loses a life, the bricks retreat, rather than restart the level.
Power-ups
Power-ups rise from the bottom of the board and must be captured by the player to activate them. Power-ups include:- Spears of MixcoatlMixcoatlMixcoatl , or Camaxtli, was the god of the hunt and identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures. He was the patron deity of the Otomi, the Chichimecs, and several groups that claimed descent from the Chichimecs...
: collapses 3 random columns - AtlatlAtlatlAn atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
Dart: collapses a random row - Breath of Kukulcan: changes a group of blocks to a random color
- Jaguar's Strike: collapses all blocks of a single color
- Jungle Rumble: topples towers and fills gaps
- Creeping Vine: a snaking path that destroys blocks
- Ix Chel Heart: capturing 20 hearts earns an extra life
- Gift of TohilTohilTohil was a deity of the K'iche' Maya in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, Tohil was the patron god of the K'iche'. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity and he was also both a sun god and the god of rain. Tohil was also associated with...
: drops a fireball that destroys blocks - Wrath of XibalbaXibalbaXibalba , roughly translated as "place of fear", is the name of the underworld in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Cobán, Guatemala. According to some of the...
: rains a group of fireballs - Star of XolotlXolotlIn Aztec mythology, Xolotl was the god with associations to both lightning and death.Although often depicted in relation to the underworld, Xolotl was not a psychopomp in the Western sense. Xolotl did, however, aid the dead on their journey to Mictlan, the afterlife in some myths.Xolotl was also...
: eight pointed star that destroys blocks - Xochitl's Blessing: creates wild card blocks that match any color
- Serpent's Crawl: slows block spawn rate for a while
- Hand of Stone: stops block spawn rate for a while
- Retreating Wall: retreats three rows of blocks
The level ends when the progress meter is completely filled.
Bonus Round
During the bonus round, which appears after the ninth level of a region, the player can try to build the largest block of a single color before it collapses.History lesson
The game acts as an educational gameEducational game
Educational games are games that have been designed to teach people about a certain subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play...
as well in that it tours the Yucatán Peninsula, and between levels, gives short lessons about Mayan culture and Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
.
Reception
- IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
- 6.5/10 http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/862/862114p1.html - GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
- 7.5/10 http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/puzzle/tiqal/review.html - 1UP.com1UP.com1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
- B- http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3167135 - X360X360X360 is a monthly magazine produced by Imagine Publishing in the United Kingdom. X360 is the UK's #1 selling independent dedicated Xbox 360 magazine, covering news, previews and reviews...
- 7/10 http://xboxoz360.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/xbla-tiqal-review