Why is everyone so obsessed with Block Blast? Block Blast is a game that was originally released in 2022 but has gained significant popularity in the last year. As of now it has 200 million players worldwide. That’s almost as big as the entire population of Brazil! If you’ve never played the game, it’s similar to Tetris where the players must fit different sized pieces onto a eight by eight grid. But the key is that if you get a full row of blocks then they get cleared and give you more space. This makes the player feel like the game is never ending, a common technique used in games to hook the player.
I talked to two of my friends who both have the app. Mayssa Harrati is a BHS freshman who has a high score of 17,176. He said, “It’s really addictive because it’s simple and easy to play, and you don’t need Wi-Fi which is nice because the school Wi-Fi is really bad.” It’s so easy to play if you have a quick break, because the game saves your progress and you can play it anywhere. I also talked to Anya Wagner who has a high score of 30,539 and she said, “It’s really addictive. You’re constantly wanting to get a new high score and beat your friends.” This feature is a key draw for Block Blast. When you’re playing against yourself you always have room to improve, so in that sense it’s a never ending game. It also makes you use your brain and actually strategize which has been lost with a lot of modern online games.
Let’s talk about the actual science of why it’s so addictive. When you beat a high score or pass a level of a game it releases dopamine in your brain, which is basically like the happy chemical. Also the game is designed in such a way that you could keep playing forever, the game will always give you blocks that will fit if you place them right. This is similar to certain social media apps where you can scroll through videos endlessly. I have also seen a lot of videos where someone is talking while you watch them playing Block Blast, this is like seeing videos where on one side it’s the actual video and on the other is someone playing Subway Surfers. This is called sludge content, they are very attention grabbing and overstimulate your brain. At the moment these videos might be addictive but in the long run they are declining our attention span.
How long will this trend last? Well, do you remember the Watermelon game? Maybe you were also addicted to it a year or so ago but the design of the game it’s very similar to Block Blast. They are both based on the idea of beating your high score. I think that Block Blast will have a similar trajectory of popularity to the Watermelon game. It might be really popular right now but in a few months there will be a new game that everyone’s obsessed with, probably with a similar objective, just a different layout or aesthetic.