Block Ocean Puzzle 1010

I liked this game…for awhile. But I’ve found out the hard way—by losing a game I’d literally been building on for weeks—that there are hidden rules, not at all obvious, that will screw you. Like the one that just killed the game I’d worked for so long: Apparently, if you’re low on free spaces and you use the bonus button that swaps every tile in the next-tiles box, and if you use it twice without getting useable tiles (stingy!)—the end, you lose. Why?! When you have 8 swaps available, who would think if you use the swap twice, that will kill the game if you’re unlucky enough to get all unusable tiles twice (and why is the game so stingy as to do that to you, especially in a game with a 6-digit score you’ve been working on day after day for weeks?!)? Why couldn’t I tap it again, and again…what’s the point of having saved up all these swaps for a tight spot if you can only use it twice? But moreover, who would guess that’s a rule? Is it even spelled out anywhere? I doubt it. It certainly wasn’t related in the training when the Swap function was introduced. The worst part is I might have been able to work with the tiles I got at first if I rotated them, but I was low on rotates and had lots of swaps available (I thought!?) so I decided to swap instead, got nothing useable so swapped again, and bam! Surprise, you lose! Speaking of stingy, I’ve encountered several dailies that seemed unsolvable and took several attempts to win—and every time different tiles came up (the initial layout was the same, but not what came up to use) proving what comes up is apparently totally random and you may or may not ever be able to win. That’s their choice, I suppose, but I foolishly expect at least daily games are constructed to be winnable. So far that’s been true, though it sometimes took multiple attempts, but if it’s totally random it’s possible to get a daily you can never win, and that doesn’t seem right. I lost an earlier game I’d been working on quite a while too by doing something (I forget what, maybe it was the same swap issue) that was not obviously going to end the game and was not an obvious losing move. So, burn me once, live & learn; burn me twice–screw you and your game. I have better ways to waste time than in a game that’s going to treat me this way. DELETE.

It’s challenging but not too hard. I love the graphics and all the fish. For me it’s fun and relaxing.

Every block game advertises something different but the game is always this. So disappointing. At least this one is colorful. How many games do I have to endure to get to the advertised game?