Zyconix

Zyconix is an arcade puzzle game that is somewhat like a cross between Columns and Klax.

Colored blocks raining down on a playfield, we’ve seen that before. Zyconix takes the Columns principle (align three or more bricks of the same color to make them disappear) and adds a few twists of its own:

First, there are no groups or columns of stones, only single blocks.

Second, several of them slide down at once, and you select and move them with a cursor.

Third, only horizontal and diagonal lines disappear, but not stacks of the same color.

Add a few special objects from bombs to drills to a breakout ball that you can actually deflect grabbing a brick as a paddle, mix with four play modes (normal, pre-filled playfield and two time trial variants), and the result is a fast-pasted, tricky test of agility.

Two players can compete in split-screen mode, where each removed line turns the corresponding number of bricks on the opponent’s field into indestructible obstacle blocks. Soloists adjust the difficulty level by tweaking the number of blocks in a line (from three to six), number of colors and frequency of new stones appearing.