Tetripz

Moby ID: 4007

Description

Tetripz simulates what it would be like to play the classic puzzle game under the influence of various drugs and other substances. The player can choose several different drugs, including LSD, marijuana, 2CB, and coffee, and can choose how intense that drug's effects will be on an intensity scale ranging from 1 to "overdose". This affects how the playing field is rendered, including effects such as a constantly warping screen or the playing field zooming in and out. This game supports multiplayer against a friend or the computer.

This game won the Wired'98 Game Compo.

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 90% (based on 1 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 2 ratings with 1 reviews)

The shortest summary: Psychedelic Tetris

The Good
Tetripz has a whole 50 levels altogether - 10 levels per each stage (Coffee, Ganja, 2C-B, LSD and DMT).
The graphics are just amazing, even though somewhat random (see "The Bad"), with lots of effects which intensify as the game progresses. The screen may ripple, twist and turn (some levels are fully upside-down or on the side), become darker and then brighter again, move closer of further, it also has some minor visual effects such as lenses and vortices. This makes playing Tetripz more difficult and also simply different than playing a typical Tetris game.
The game also has a two player option, but to be honest - I haven't even tested it, I have always been a very individual player.

The Bad
I didn't like the music at all - but it's just a matter of taste, I generally dislike psytrance and all the trance/rave/techno stuff. On my old computer I could play it without using DOSBox - it worked without music and I actually discovered this game isn't silent when I tried running it through DOSBox. Now I just turned the sound off in my D-Fend settings for this game so I can play some Grateful Dead or Liquid Sound Company as background music instead. ;) Others may find the game's music good.
Tetripz could have been a better game and I would say it's somewhat inconsistent. The difficulty doesn't really progress in a linear way - for example Coffee level 10 ("overdose") is quite clearly harder than, let's say, LSD level 3.
Distortions intensify as the game progresses, but their repertory stays pretty much the same throughout the game. And they don't really match the substances... I don't like coffee, but I drink lots of tea and I never get effects shown in this game. ;) On the opposite edge - these effects would be quite benign for more clearly psychedelic substances. DMT is reported as a very intense, kaleidoscopic, short-acting psychedelic, yet the DMT levels in this game are much like the 2C-B levels, only more difficult. It does affect gameplay too - just think how difficult would the game become if these levels had lots of flashing colors all around

The Bottom Line
Tetripz takes the whole Tetris idea to a new level. A regular Tetris is about skill, being quick, planning and chance - Tetripz adds the factor of visual distortions. Sometimes it's really hard to see where the block is heading if the screen is rippling and twisting. I think it may be a good exercise in coordination and perceptiveness - tell it to those who think all games are Bad For Kids (and a psychedelic game will make you run and look for the nearest drug dealer). ;)

Technical and practical hints:
- On older computers the game may work without an emulator. On newer ones it won't, but requires more advanced settings than some 1989 arcade game.
- It probably isn't recommendable for people prone to seizures.
- Remember that when the screen is upside-down, the controls aren't reversed!

DOS · by Nowhere Girl (8680) · 2012

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  • MobyGames ID: 4007
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Game added by rey_.

Game added May 7, 2001. Last modified February 22, 2023.