Blocksworld

Lore & Background

Blocksworld was initially developed by Swedish independent studio BoldaiAB and presented at the Nordic Game 2012 conference, where it received a 10,000-euro investment from the Nordic Game Fund. A paid version launched in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway on November 21, 2012, with a planned worldwide release on December 13, 2012 for $0.99 USD. However, the global release was delayed after Linden Lab acquired BoldaiAB, and the game was repositioned as a freemium title with optional purchases. It expanded to iPhone in 2016 and to Steam early access on September 25, 2017. Development and promotion were paused prior to the 2020 shutdown, with the last significant update in March 2018, attributed to Linden Lab's focus on other projects like Second Life and Sansar.

Reader's Guide

Blocksworld's significance lies in its accessible yet powerful creation tools, which combined simple building blocks with a drag-and-drop visual programming system. This allowed players to construct everything from drivable cars to playable games with win/lose conditions and health systems. The game fostered a large community that created and shared over 38 million worlds, supported by community moderation where players could approve or reject newly published worlds. Its inclusion of licensed Hasbro sets (My Little Pony, Transformers, G.I. Joe) and characters from Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return expanded its appeal. The game's legacy continues through an unofficial fan revival project, Blocksworld: The Secondary Server (started 2019), and a spiritual successor, Fancade, released in 2020 by former BoldaiAB developer Martin Magni. The acquisition by Fortell Games in 2023 and subsequent Kickstarter campaign (fully funded by 114.46% on June 1, 2024) demonstrate enduring interest, though the revival remains unreleased as of 2026.

Did You Know?

• Blocksworld hosted over 38 million worlds before its servers shut down in 2020.
• The game included a feature where players could redeem in-game coins for real money.
• A 2016 update added 'gems,' a currency used only for the Lucky Prize Wheel, which could not be purchased with real money.
• The game's revival Kickstarter was fully funded by 114.46% on May 31, 2024, but the game has yet to release as of 2026.

Origins & the Linden Lab Era

Blocksworld began as a project by BoldaiAB, a Swedish independent studio, and was first showcased at the Nordic Game 2012 conference, where it earned a 10,000-euro investment from the Nordic Game Fund. The game was initially planned for a summer 2012 launch, but its first commercial appearance came on November 21, 2012, as a paid title in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway. A worldwide release had been penciled in for December 13, 2012 at a price of $0.99, yet that timeline collapsed when the American company Linden Lab acquired BoldaiAB. The subsequent global rollout on July 26, 2013 marked a strategic pivot: rather than a one-time purchase, Blocksworld was repositioned as a freemium experience, offering premium sets, additional building pieces, coins, and other upgrades for purchase. Over the following years the title expanded across platforms, arriving on iPhone in 2016 and entering Steam early access on September 25, 2017, broadening its reach far beyond the original iPad audience that had first embraced it in the Nordic market.

A Sandbox Built for Creators

At its core, Blocksworld offered a physics-driven 3D sandbox where players assembled structures from individual building blocks and then breathed life into them using a drag-and-drop visual programming system. Action blocks such as motors, wheels, hinges, and rockets let creators build drivable vehicles, flyable aircraft, or fully playable games complete with win and lose conditions and health tracking. The building toolkit spanned ten sub-menus—ranging from basic blocks and props to humanoid Blocksters, gear attachments, color and texture palettes, sound effects, and a dedicated actions panel for scripting behaviors like exploding, sparkling, or spawning a joystick. Beyond solo creation, the game fostered a vibrant community: players could publish worlds for others to play, trade models on an in-game marketplace, and even redeem accumulated coins for real money. A community moderation system required new uploads to be playtested and approved by fellow users, while periodic themed challenges encouraged creative competition. Licensed content from Hasbro properties like My Little Pony, Transformers, and G.I. Joe, alongside characters from Legends of Oz, added a layer of branded appeal to the sandbox.

The Long Fade and Final Shutdown

By 2018, the creative momentum behind Blocksworld had begun to stall. Linden Lab, whose acquisition of BoldaiAB had reshaped the game's business model, shifted its internal priorities toward Second Life and its ambitious Sansar project. The last meaningful update to Blocksworld shipped in March 2018, after which development and promotional efforts effectively ceased. For roughly two years the title lingered in a state of quiet neglect, still accessible on the App Store and Steam but no longer receiving new content or support. The end came abruptly in the summer of 2020. By that point Blocksworld had already disappeared from Linden Lab's own website, surviving only in archived press releases. On June 17, 2020, the company pulled the plug entirely, shutting down all game servers and taking with them the more than 38 million community-built worlds that had accumulated over the game's lifetime. The title was delisted from the App Store shortly thereafter, and on July 2, 2020, it was removed from Steam, closing the final storefront through which players could still download the game.

Life After Linden: Revival and What Comes Next

The 2020 shutdown did not erase Blocksworld's community. An unofficial fan project called Blocksworld: The Secondary Server, often shortened to Blocksworld 2, launched in 2019 and continued to host players well after the official servers went dark, preserving a living slice of the sandbox culture. In the same year, Martin Magni, a developer from the original BoldaiAB team, shipped Fancade, a new title that echoed many of Blocksworld's defining features, including user-generated games and the ability to play creations made by others. The most significant development came in August 2023, when Fortell Games Inc—a spinoff studio of Beatshapers with offices in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Santa Monica, California—acquired the Blocksworld brand. Through the game's official X account, Fortell confirmed plans to relaunch the title in the third quarter of 2024. As of 2026, that relaunch has not yet materialized, though the studio has stated the project remains under active development, keeping the flame alive for a community that never fully let go.

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