Blocksworld was a physics-based 3D sandbox video game developed by BoldaiAB and

Linden Lab Linden Research, Inc., doing business as Linden Lab, is an American technology company that is best known as the creator of ''Second Life''. The company's head office is in San Francisco, with additional offices in Boston, Seattle, Virginia an ...

released originally for the

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operati ...

on 21st November, 2012 in Nordic countries and later worldwide on 6 July 2013. It was later released for the iPhone on 2016, and later, via

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

on September 25, 2017. As of 2020, Blocksworld is absent from Linden Lab's website (excluding previous press releases), and servers were fully shut down on June 17, 2020. It was subsequently removed from the

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

afterwards, and was later pulled from Steam on July 2, 2020.

Gameplay

In Blocksworld, players could build using 3D building blocks that could be combined to construct simple or complex creations. Players could also use "action blocks" and a drag-and-drop visual programming tool to add interactivity to their creations. Examples included drivable cars, flyable jets, and playable games with win/lose conditions, health systems, and other attributes. Players could also upload their creations for others to play.

Development

''Blocksworld'' was initially developed by Swedish

independent video game An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...

developer Boldai (originally named Creative Builder) which was acquired by US-based

in early 2013. An earlier paid version of the game was briefly available in 2012 in Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Norway for 28 Swedish Krona. Blocksworld was intended to be released worldwide on 13 December 2012 for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

0.99. This was later pushed back until Linden Lab's acquisition. For the subsequent global release, the game was repositioned as a

freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium," is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical ...

offering where players had the option to purchase premium sets and games, additional building objects and pieces, coins, and other upgrades and extras for a small fee.

References

{{Portal, Video games 2013 video games Educational games Emergent gameplay Free online games Indie games IOS games MacOS games Video games developed in Sweden Windows games