Crashmo

Crashmo follows up on the successful Pushmo and expands its block-pulling principle with a new variable - gravity. While in the original game blocks stayed in place once pulled out, in Crashmo unsupported cubes come crashing down, forcing the player to think not only about where to move a block, but also in what order and with what consequences for the rest of the structure. The result is puzzles that feel more complex and more physical than in the previous game, delivering a completely different feel for manipulating space.

The game again builds on the 3DS's touch controls and the clear switching between an overview of the puzzle and a detailed close-up. The character Mallo is once again trying to reach the goal, but now the player must reckon with the fact that one careless action can bring down the entire structure and force them to start over. It also includes a level editor and the ability to share your own creations, just like its predecessor, so the community could keep expanding the pool of puzzles beyond the base campaign, with many fan-made levels even surpassing the official content in difficulty.

Critics received Crashmo as a successful and meaningful sequel that doesn't just copy the first game but genuinely pushes the mechanic further, offering a tougher challenge for players who had already been through Pushmo. As a smaller, eShop-only production it never enjoyed mass attention, but among fans of logic games on the 3DS it ranks among the best-reviewed titles - compact, cleverly designed and without unnecessary padding around the puzzle itself. Even years later it remains an excellent example of how a single added variable - gravity - can turn into an entirely new layer of strategic thinking without the game losing clarity or accessibility for new players who come to the series only in retrospect, and in a sense it has aged better than its slightly simpler predecessor. Together with Pushmo it forms a pair that can be recommended to anyone who enjoys pondering over a simple-looking but cunningly designed puzzle.