PUNKCAKE Delicieux announces Hot Wax, a Tetris-like about burning candles
The Shotgun King studio's new puzzle game replaces line clears with a summoning ritual where candle blocks must be burned from the top down.
PUNKCAKE Delicieux, the studio behind Shotgun King, has announced Hot Wax, a puzzle game that reworks the Tetris formula around magical candle-shaped blocks, according to Kotaku.
Rather than clearing horizontal lines, players in Hot Wax perform a summoning ritual in which the candle blocks have to be burned from the top down. Every couple of pieces, players receive a small ball of fire that travels along the path of the candles and lights any exposed twine it touches.
Wax blocks that become separated tumble down and can smother the ember, leaving behind an impenetrable basin of goo. In the standard ritual mode, the flame advances only one block per turn, and players can pick up devilish power-ups.
Other modes let the fire scorch straight through blocks, which the studio describes as a visual aid for seeing the game's logic play out in real time.
From a game jam to a full release
Hot Wax began as a 2024 Ludum Dare game jam project. PUNKCAKE Delicieux previously built Shotgun King, a chess-based game, and has another project in the works, the word game If Letters Had Pants, Would They Wear Them Like This?
Quick answers
What is Hot Wax?
It is a puzzle game from PUNKCAKE Delicieux that reimagines Tetris with candle-shaped blocks that are burned from the top down instead of cleared in lines.
Who is developing Hot Wax?
PUNKCAKE Delicieux, the studio behind Shotgun King.
When was Hot Wax first made?
It originated as a 2024 Ludum Dare game jam project.