Treasure Stack

 Switch
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Nintenderos
    Mar 1, 2019
    84
    Treasure Stack is a fun game with different online modes and functions that allows us to get a lot of equipment, some of them exclusive of each season. Its mechanics, which are easy to learn and difficult to master, will delight fans of puzzle games.
  2. NintendoWorldReport
    Mar 5, 2019
    50
    I desperately want to love Treasure Stack, but as it is right now, it’s a colorful sketch of a video game at best. Simply, there just isn’t much of anything to do and a frustrating interface and a seemingly absent online landscape (including crossplay with Xbox One and PC) makes the future for this heavily online-focused game look bleak. Maybe someday this could be a richer, fuller experience, but it isn’t right now.

User Reviews

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User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 6
  3. Negative: 2 out of 6
  1. touchfuzzy
    Mar 5, 2019
    7
    A brilliant little game that's very light on content. The actual gameplay is awesome - a demanding puzzle platformer that makes you thinkA brilliant little game that's very light on content. The actual gameplay is awesome - a demanding puzzle platformer that makes you think differently than any game I've ever played. It's addicting and exciting to match treasure chests together while controlling an actual character. It's easy to understand but the skill ceiling is sky high. FInally clearing a group of 10+ chests that you've been building, and sending a pile of junk to your opponent in the process has to be one of the more satisfying feelings in a puzzle game ever. There's also lots of cool and cute unlockable characters.

    Unfortunately this great gameplay isn't backed up my much meaningful content. The game's bread and butter is it's online mode, where there are both ranked and casual options. It runs well and is at it's best when you're competing against an evenly matched opponent, but on a smaller release like this you often get stuck in matchmaking, waiting for someone to join for 5+ minutes. There are a few rewards to be earned by climbing ranks, but otherwise not much progression. There is only a 1V1 option in online, and you can't see any information about your opponent. Local multiplayer is available for up to 4 players, but with the high skill ceiling it may be difficult to find people to play with, as the game definitely takes some time to learn.

    The solo mode is extremely bare bones. It is just a single mode with no adjustable difficulty or settings. It doesn't keep track of high scores. The default difficulty it is set at feels designed for people who are already skilled at the game as junk builds up way too fast, giving you no opportunity to even learn the basics, let alone develop strategies. Unfortunately, this is the only way to earn XP and unlock new characters and grapples, so you're stuck playing it over and over to have any kind of meaningful progression. And when matchmaking often takes so long, you get bored and want to play some single player -- this bare bones mode doesn't cut it. Also, an odd design decision is kicking you back to the title screen after every single match, regardless of mode.

    Treasure Stack is at it's best in it's online competitive mode, but it can take too long to match against other players. If you're looking for something to just play by yourself, you won't find nearly enough content here to justify the price tag. The base game design is excellent, easily a 9/10, but the amount of content is a 5/10 at best, so we'll cut the difference and award it a 7/10. Hopefully the developers add more content and options in the future to help realize the potential of this great puzzle design.    … Full Review »
  2. syce16
    Mar 3, 2019
    8
    In Treasure Stack you work to place chests of the same color near each other and use keys to unlock and remove all of the chest of thatIn Treasure Stack you work to place chests of the same color near each other and use keys to unlock and remove all of the chest of that matching color. The game play is similar to other puzzle games like Tetris or Puyo-Puyo but throws a bit of a spin into the formula. You control a character that must navigate the different spaces and move them to navigate to where you want to go. This ups the difficulty of the puzzle drastically especially when it starts to speed up. Being someone the was use to Tetris style where you control the blocks themselves it took me quite a few rounds to get the hang of the gameplay.

    The game also offers a variety of ways to play including online in both ranked and casual and local play with up to four people fighting against each other to last the longest.

    After I got the hang of the game though I found it immensely satisfying to build a huge pile of one color and wait for the key that matched to drop so I could watch my tower clear away. Maneuvering the pieces quickly is very difficult however and gets near impossible to manage as the game speeds up. This is a bright spot in some ways but can be seen as a negative in others. With the difficulty ramping up it makes local play with friends even more hectic and fun while playing alone just to unlock some more cosmetics a bit of a grind.

    While I do think the game has some points that aren't fully fleshed out the multiplayer is insanely fun and crazy and perfect for those with friends who love puzzle games. If you are looking for a party game to play that challenges your ability to think quickly I highly recommend Treasure Stack!    … Full Review »
  3. CoffeeEtMelange
    Mar 2, 2019
    7
    At the core of it, I like Treasure Stack. But I will say, it does not come with the polish that it should at its price tag of $20. There are aAt the core of it, I like Treasure Stack. But I will say, it does not come with the polish that it should at its price tag of $20. There are a lot of very simple things that the game feels to be lacking, and there are some things that I feel like would have made the game a lot more interesting and engaging from a replay standpoint.

    Synoposis of Gameplay

    If you’ve seen a video of Treasure Stack’s gameplay, you know what to expect. It’s platforming mixed with puzzle action. You can move side-to-side, jump, pick up stacks, put down stacks to your side or underneath you (causing you to be on top of them), and use your grappling hook.

    Those are the basics, but there are some finer mechanics. Blocks fall in a stack of two, composed of chests, keys or power-ups. You can, for instance, jump up and snatch the block off the top of that falling stack of two. You can split stacks in half (when you pick up a stack, you pick it up from the block closest to you). There are a few power-ups. An anvil that clears a column, a sword that clears a row, and a bomb that clears the adjacent 3x3 blocks. I would have liked to have seen more & different power-ups, like something that slowed time for you or sped up time for your opponent.

    The game is all about the subtle aspects of movement. The grappling hook is a cool touch, but really falls short in terms of an “innovative” feature. It’s just a glorified fast drop with light customization. That said, you use it a lot, so it is a core part of the game.—but not nearly as core as picking up & putting down stacks, moving and jumping.

    It seems like it can get really twitchy, having played against a handful of players much better than me online. It feels like a frantic mess about 4-5 minutes into a match, as blocks start coming down rather fast, and keys are getting buried in the stacks and the brain is overloaded with trying to grapple with managing this mountainous train wreck.

    I feel like the game shines in its relatively simple controls because after you play several rounds you start to see how complex it can get in using your simple actions to maximum effect. You not only have to account for making and clearing stacks, but stacking in a way that you can still maneuver around the board. You have to think about the accessibility of power-ups, prioritize the clearing of the garbage, and so forth. It’s also fairly easy to hose yourself by blocking yourself in, burying a power-up, and that sort of thing. You’re never totally stuck, but it does take precious time to unstuck yourself, and usually it comes at the expense of how you had your stacks organized.

    One example of a simple yet interesting mechanic that sort of pushed me to “play harder” is the multicolored keys that drop. If the multicolored key is attached to a chest, when it lands it will simply open that chest and disappear, which is typically a waste because the key can open any chests it’s adjacent to. But if you jump up and snatch it before it lands, and you’re quick in your “put down/pick up” game, you can reposition to get some big and timely clears.

    Online: The online is fine. As far as I can see, it’s only head-to-head. There’s a seasonal mode and a casual mode, and it seems like this is where a lot of the intention of the developers was. It runs smoothly, so props there. I would have liked it if there were 4 player options or custom-game availability.

    So yeah, those are the good things I can say about the game so far. The retro pixel graphics are plenty nice for this kind of game, and it feels right at home. I haven’t listened to any audio because I’ve only played it with the sound off.

    As other reviewers have mentioned, the lack of a “Rematch” option after a completed game (especially in solo or local play) is a very simple QOL feature that virtually all of these puzzle games have. Sending the player back to the menu screen after every single game reflects a bit of amateur design in my eyes, and detracts from the overall player experience.

    I like that there are aesthetic unlocks, but I would have liked to see this extend to the chests & keys themselves. As it stands, I barely notice the cosmetic changes to the grappling hook, so it feels like kind of a waste of effort on the developer's part.

    Overall I like the game and don't regret the purchase. It feels like it would be most fun with some friends on the couch. It could use some additional QOL improvements (most notably a rematch feature) and some features that allow for greater replayability (more power ups, different modes, difficulty adjustments).

    If this game was $10, I would give it a 9/10. As a $20 game, I would give it a 7    … Full Review »
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