Plotting (Game)

Plotting

GAME » on Q1 1989

Amiga (Platform)Amstrad CPC (Platform)Arcade (Platform)Atari ST (Platform)Commodore 64 (Platform)Game Boy (Platform)Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform)Nintendo Switch (Platform)PlayStation 4 (Platform)ZX Spectrum (Platform)

A block-matching arcade game from Taito. Known in Japan as "Flipull".

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Overview

The NES version.

Plotting, known in Japan and in some later releases as Flipull: An Exciting Cube Game (or simply Flipull), is a tile-matching puzzle game developed and released by Taito for arcades in 1989.

The game involves chucking blocks into a group of other blocks to clear matching ones, with the goal being to clear a certain threshold in a time limit without getting stuck. It is known for its use of gravity (as hitting the wall makes it fall down) and for its game mechanic of blocks being only thrown at matching ones, where it clears through them until it hits either a non-matching block (which swaps with it, returning the other one to the player) or the floor (which returns that block).

The game received home conversions in Japan for the Famicom on December 15, 1989 and for the Game Boy (Platform) on March 16, 1990, with the GB version being released in North America on April 1990 with the name Flipull. It also received multiple European computer ports in 1990-1991 for the Amiga (Platform), Atari ST (Platform), Amstrad CPC (Platform), Commodore 64 (Platform), and ZX Spectrum (Platform), where they were all released by Ocean use the Plotting name.

The arcade version was later included in the PS2 compilations Taito Legends (Game) and Taito Memories Joukan (Game), and received a digital re-release (with the overseas version having the Flipull name) as part of HAMSTER's Arcade Archives (Franchise) series on May 26, 2002 for the PlayStation 4 (Platform) and Nintendo Switch (Platform).

Gameplay

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In Plotting, players control a blob who moves up and down the playfield, chucking blocks onto a group of other blocks to clear them, with the goal being to clear a certain amount of blocks within the time limit.

Much of the game's puzzle involves where the blocks can be thrown and its use of gravity, as blocks can only hit other blocks of the same shape and color and blocks fall downward when hitting a wall block (which is necessary to hit other blocks from the top). Blocks clear matching blocks when they hit them (with bonus points for multiple clears) and then swaps itself with the non-matching block it hits, where it is "pulled" back to the blob (although if it hits the floor, that block is instead pulled back).

The game makes use of a limited-use wildcard Special Block, which is given for free at the start of the level and earned after certain conditions are met. When the player is put into a situation where they cannot make a valid move, they must use one of their spare Special Blocks or end the game prematurely.

Each level of the game features a different assortment of blocks, wall layouts, and the inclusion of "pipe" blocks (where they count as wall blocks when hit from the side, but are free to pass through when hit from above).

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