So this was a side project I was playing when I only had 30 minutes or so before doing something else and I didn’t want to play anything that needed real time investment. It turned out to be something I really enjoyed.

Crawlco is a puzzle game about blocks. Each level contains an image you can uncover that features a girl who gets progressively less clothes until top nudity, then you go to the next set with a small story blurb from your boss. As for the kind of puzzle, I don’t think it has a name? My first thought when I saw this was that is was another of the dime a dozen image gallery’s pretending to be a game using matching tiles or something that have infested Steam, but instead its an actual puzzle game that actually I think is fairly unique. At the very least I’ve never encountered something exactly like it.

So starting with what kind of puzzle game it actually is. Blocks randomly spawn from the floor as time goes on, and three blocks of the same color at an edge of the map or connecting to other completed blocks will complete/connect. Your goal in each level is to fill enough of the floor with completed blocks. Doing just that beats the level with the lowest rank. Each level also has a silhouette of a women that if you cover with completed blocks, completes the level even if not enough of the floor has been completed. This is generally your actual goal as it unlocks the images and the final level. If you cover only the silhouette you get the final tier of star which I don’t think does anything, but going for that made the game actually really fun for me because of the challenge of it all.

You play as this lizard teenager who can do a few things. You an kick a block across the floor. You can drag a block toward you, though if there is a block behind you you instead jump onto the block. You can pull the block toward you with force, pushing it the other side of the room but not moving yourself. That’s your moveset. There are three colors of block, just match them up.

Sound really simple and should be easy, right? Except there are things to kill you. Enemies spawn based on block spawns, and they cause two issues. The obvious one is that they can kill you, and you only have three lives for each level. The other issue is that based on how you kill the enemies they cause their own completed blocks appear, sometimes in really helpful shapes and sometimes ruining a perfect run. It’s really the enemies that made the game tense and enjoyable for me, though if they get really irritating you can actually turn them off. I would recommend against that though, as without the enemies there is no real challenge to the game and its already short amount of content just becomes a walk in the park.

I think that’s all I can say for the gameplay. It’s simple but not something I’ve seen before in puzzle games myself. It’s really the enemies that made the game fun for me as I watched a perfect run go south or saved a bad run using convenient spawns. Games that can end with a good feeling but made you irritated or mad during playing are usually the ones that stand out for me, as it means I was actually engaged emotionally. Which few games do for me nowadays.

There is an attempt at a story. You are a new worker at a transport/shipping company. You and your boss just move things around, but for some reason there are obscene images of women around and monster like things. Thing is, Crawlco isn’t a company with an 18+ part so there are some issues of what you are sending… The story exists. It’s more for a silly smile at the end then anything.

As for the ecchi artwork… So those silhouettes I mentioned above? As you fill those in with blocks you get the actual image of the girl filled out. Each girl gets three levels, with each level the girl losing clothes and getting a new pose. Last level always has nipples out, but no genitals which is why this is listed as ecchi. The game has a very non anime art style, which is nice to see every now and then . I will admit that only a few images looked good to me, but I am very anime influenced at this point.

You can play the game with three levels of censor to fit your needs. You can have the full who cares and display everything, stars over nipples, or hide mode. Honestly hide mode is the best for actually playing the game as it shows clearly which parts of the level need to be covered to clear. You can swap between these with a single button press so playing in hide mode and then switching to stars or full mode at the end to see what you uncovered is an option and was how I ended up playing the game.

PC Save for Crawlco: Block Knockers

Switch Save for Crawlco

Save has all levels platinumed that were out when I beat it, which unlocks all images. The game looks to be still getting updates via crossover levels and seasonal stuff, so I’ll update the save when I come back for to play more.

Gameplay: 7/10 Eroticness: 4/10 Story: 2/10