BattleBlock Theater

I’m sure by now you’ve seen that quite popular, and polite waving bear on YouTube, right? Well, call it timing or whatever you want to call it, but we’ve got a creepy bear in our video this week!

Prisoner #10322… is polite too. But mostly cuddly. Our friend’s favorite block type however,  is not so much. We can imagine the nonsense that goes on in a bear’s head… “Oh Shuffle Block, how you tease me and play with my emotions! You’ve got a mind of your own. You do what you want, when you want. But please come back to me, I need you sometimes, you know?”

Shuffle Block ain’t all bad you know. Sometimes it’ll protect you from laser beams and ammo from enemies…sometimes even drop enemies into the waters of death!!

A Special Dev Story…

During the beginning stages of game inception, the shuffle block was one of the first blocks ever made! It was also the first moving block we created! Its purpose was to supply variation in our levels,  to take a static level and make it an ever-changing level.

When this block type is featured, it will make sure each experience is different every time!

The Shuffle Block likes its space. But it will not infringe on yours. Though this block is completely chaotic, sometimes you can get it to do what you want. How that works is that you must occupy the space opposite of where you want it to go. So if you want the block to move right, you’ve got to take up the space on the left side! With a little coaxing, it might work. Who knows, the block might move up instead of left!

We must say this block is pretty special…and always exciting! 

Words from Aaron, BattleBlock Theater Level Designer…

“Once upon a time, the Shuffle Block was one of the only moving Blocks in the game…but whenever we tried to design part of a level around them, we could never predict where they would go! Were we making a level easier for players by giving them more Shuffle Blocks to stand on, or were we giving the Shuffle Block more opportunities to betray the player? And what if the Shuffle Blocks decided to shuffle off entirely?

We finally realized that it was no use trying to make the Shuffle Block your friend or your enemy–it does what it wants, when it wants. Instead, we tried setting them loose in other parts of the game to liven things up…and that’s when they started to shine. You may think you know how to get through a level, but next time your Shuffle Block buddy may be dropping you into those spikes instead of blocking that laser.”

Enjoy the Prisoner Video.

Happy Holidays and have a Happy New Year from The Behemoth!!

<3, Your Favorite Pink Knight Christine