Rating Curve

Blocktober Casino is one of the most special and creative levels I've ever seen. It takes the Blocktober builds and makes them all work in one giant gauntlet of a level, with a lot of love poured into every bit of it.

This level consists of 31 parts (for each day in October) themed generally around a Casino. This was the theme for Blocktober 2024, an annual building challenge for creators. Typically, from what I've seen at least, the creations for these aren't really used outside of the day they were made for a Twitter post. This level changes that by making the level a collage of sorts, though the level all has the aforementioned casino theme to tie the sections together.

The gameplay in this level is very unique, being a precision type level but constantly throwing in elements from other gameplay types and having lots of orbs and pads as well as curvy structures to make it very unique from a lot of other platformer levels. The balancing is very strange, being hardest at the beginning, then getting easier over time, then getting back to being very difficult in the ending. The level is around 4 minutes long and has no checkpoints in the actual gameplay section, meaning you need to master the sections and have incredible nerve control if you want to avoid choking and dying at the end. I really like how this level is balanced, as even though it's unconventional it presents a very fun and nerve-wracking experience when completing it.

The decoration shows off how creative DavidConcal is as a creator. Though each section is themed around its own thing to fit the Blocktober challenge, they all have a very unique take on what the theme represents. There are lots of small details and jokes and references throughout this level, which makes it a pleasure to play and watch.

There is almost nothing that compares to how nervous this level made me playing it, and that is a positive. I love this level and I'm really happy that DavidConcal managed to push through making each stage in only a day, which must have been really stressful and difficult for them. This level has inspired me as a creator and I am excited to see what they manage to create next.

Beatpulse is far and away my favorite geometry dash level. It takes everything I love about platformer mode and combines it into something extremely fun, repeatable, and exciting.

Speedrun levels are probably my favorite genre of level in platformer mode, and I think the way Beatpulse creates the speedrun is really unique compared to a lot of other levels and paved the way forward for similar ideas. Each section is separated into its own timer, sometimes being shown with strictly numbers (which go down to the song) or more creative ideas like a bar going down in the dark jetpack section, the slope boost section where it closes in right before the end of the song's section, or the "final" part which is an autoscroller.

The gameplay itself is pretty unusual, but that's not a negative - I think it adds to the level. The way it feels to play, especially on a first playthrough or practice run, feels unnatural. However, the more you play it the more it begins to flow, and by the time you understand a section you will be able to pass it in time. On a first playthrough you might just barely pass through each section before the time limit, but if you return to the level to try to speedrun it (which I'll talk about later) you'll notice how much dead space you end up having between sections, and that the timers are quite lenient. I think this is a strength of the level because it allows for more skill expression. If you already know how to deal with the section, you will pass it a lot faster. I really appreciate the jetpack section (checkpoint 3) because jetpack is fairly underutilized in most platformer levels, and I like how there is a cycle-based part in the middle of the section to force you to get there at a certain pace. One standout part to me is the 5th checkpoint, which focuses on slope gameplay using mini cube. This part is really fun to get down because going back and forth coupled with the ascension with orbs and very consistent slope boosts. The sixth checkpoint is an autoscroller which pulses forward to the song, and it is really intense to get here from 0 and even more so if you're trying to speedrun the whole level. The final screen contains a super unique coin, where the level starts to decay over time and you can either find a safe spot and hide until the level ends or try to get the coin at the end of the section. The screen starts glitching out and the gravity changes (or at least feels like it does) and it is a super nerve-wracking experience.

I am not one to talk on decoration too much, but I will say that I appreciate how well it works with the song. The level feels very upbeat and this is largely due to the pulsing of just about every object, including the borders of the screen. It represents the song incredibly and I love how each section has its own feel to it. The song in this level is pretty good, but I don't really rank on song unless its really really good or really really bad. I do think it's a pretty perfect song for this style of level.

Some may find this level to be unbalanced (which it is, it is very back-heavy) but I don't find this as a detractor. I think the only thing I'd say could ever be an issue to me in this level is how hard it is on the eyes, especially with the camera pulse. Thankfully, there is an option to turn this off, so it's never necessary unless you want something to complain about.

This is my favorite level of all time and I really hope NDagger comes out with something like it again, because playing this for the first time was incredibly special. I've beaten it probably 50 times at this point and I will be beating it deathless at some day, which is a very fun concept to me as you can have a perfect time of 2:14.941 on this level if you beat it without dying at all. Nobody has achieved it yet but I have lots of good progress towards it and it's been lots of fun doing that too.

Play this level please, it is criminal how underrated it is