Although “bell to bell, there is no cell” is a rule implemented at Davie High School, it is not uncommon to see students on their phones throughout the school day. So when Brooklyn Brown was walking around her freshman PE class last year, she was far from surprised to see her classmates on their phones. She had been using hers as well.
But taking a glance at their screens, she noticed not all were open to TikTok or Snapchat (the usual suspects). Instead, quite a few were filled with an 8×8 grid and what appeared to be blocks out of “Tetris.” Initially, Brown brushed off the game, baffled that so many of her friends were playing it.
“I was like, ‘This is so stupid,” Brown said. ‘This is something my grandma would play.’”
It would not take long, though, for this “grandma” game to find its way onto Brown’s phone.
“13 hours and 44 minutes of screen time on my phone Monday,” Brown said. “And 5 hours of it was ‘Block Blast.’”
The goal of “Block Blast” is simple: clear the game board. The game presents players with an 8×8 grid and gives them different shapes. Players must strategically place them so that they fill out a column, making them disappear from the layout. Each column eliminated gives points while also leaving enough room for the upcoming pieces that will be given. Playing “Block Blast” is a straightforward experience on the surface, though avid players will tell you that the game is anything but. Much thought and effort goes into this seemingly simple game, as freshman Caylee Barrett can attest.
“Before I put down the block, I look at where it could go,” Barrett said. “I try to strategize before I put it down.”
Barrett is one of the game’s many players who think critically about her next move as she works to clear the game board. She and many of her friends find the experience quite addictive and feel a rush when they find themselves on a streak. But as fun as this phenomenon sounds, it has also brought a great deal of frustration.
“Sometimes it actually makes me so mad I wanna throw my phone across the room,” Barrett said.
While initially released in September 2022, it has only been in the past year that the popularity of “Block Blast” has soared, especially among high school students. It didn’t take long before teachers started to notice the sheer amount of students playing this Tetris-like game. Some even decided to join the party and see what the hype was about, like English teacher Renee Lamb.
“I’d be walking around, kids would be on their laptops, and I’d catch them playing ‘Block Blast’ instead of doing their work,” Lamb said. As time went on, Lamb became more curious about the game until she eventually gave in and began playing.
“One kid said, I have a high score of 8,000,” said Lamb. “And I was like, ‘That sounds crazy. I wonder how hard that game is?’”
As many players will attest, scores as high as 8,000 are not easy to achieve. But while most high scores seen range from 4,000-7,000, junior AJ Imes blows his numbers through the roof with a high score of 162,000. Imes claims to have started playing the game while waiting at the doctor’s office, and something about the game clicked with him. When asked about his surprising success with the game, though, Imes is nonchalant.
“I thought it was pretty fun,” Imes said. “It was something easy I could do when I had free time.”
With both teachers and students playing, it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing a lot more “Block Blast” in the future.
