Whoops! You’ve probably noticed that Block ‘Em Sock ‘Em is May’s Game of the Month, and we’re in June already.

I’m normally very timely, but appear to have missed the boat on this one quite significantly; we’ll likely see Block ‘Em Sock ‘Em replaced with the next Game of the Month in the next few days, so if you do want to give it a go, you’ll need to be quick!

What is the Game of the Month feature on the Evercade?

The Game of the Month feature was initially launched on the Evercade VS, the full size, multiplayer, TV-based variant of the Evercade. Each month, a new game from the Indie Heroes 2 Collection was made available to download for the Evercade VS, absolutely free of charge.

Though downloading a new Game of the Month would erase the previous game – and your saves with it – there was no reason why you couldn’t simply skip an update and new game if you wanted to keep your currently downloaded game and its progress.

The original Evercade handheld didn’t have Wi-Fi functionality, so the feature was locked to the Evercade VS; however, the Evercade EXP has no such problem – so the Game of the Month feature can now be made available on both home console and handheld.

The second round of Game of the Month titles featured games from Indie Heroes 3; as you may expect, the 2024 selection will be appearing in the upcoming Indie Heroes 4 cartridge.

What is Block ‘Em Sock ‘Em, the Evercade Game of the Month for May 2024?

I must admit, perhaps one of the reasons I’m so delayed with covering Block ‘Em Sock ‘Em is that I played it, and really didn’t get on with it at all.

The aim of the game is to eliminate at least enough blocks to be left with the same, or less, than the Goal number on the top right.

You throw your coloured block upwards, and it eliminates blocks of the same colour, or swaps places with a block it hits if it doesn’t match.

Hitting an arrow block causes the one you threw to be propelled in the direction the arrow is pointing, meaning that you can also clear the blocks horizontally too.

Though it looks (and probably sounds) a bit like a variation on a game such as Bust a Move/Puzzle Bobble (or games of that ilk), in Block ‘Em Sock ‘Em it’s actually quite easy to get stuck with no way to progress.

It’s got a steeper learning curve than you may imagine, and even when you overcome this somewhat, it’s a game that doesn’t seem like a great deal of fun, considering that you need to clear blocks in a fairly strict order if you want to progress.

However, given that it’s free for Evercade owners (at least if you have an EXP or VS), it’s still well worth giving it a go to see if it is something you’ll enjoy.

How do I download the Evercade Game of the Month?

On your console – either Evercade Vs or Evercade EXP – go to the Settings menu, then select the System option.

Then choose Check for Updates; this should trigger the system update which will contain your Game of the Month (as well as other firmware updates or fixes too).

Note that if you’re attempting this on an Evercade EXP, you’ll need to have at least 50% battery or have the console plugged in and charging.

Do also note that your system may shut down and restart automatically, sometimes multiple times, during this process.

Have faith and patience – and just wait for it to go through these steps without interrupting the process as it does this.

Where will I find my Evercade Game of the Month?

On the Evercade EXP, you’ll find your Game of the Month in the EXP menu, selected on the left hand side of the screen.

The VS is slightly different, though it’s in essentially the same place – the icon is a star, rather than the EXP option on the handheld.

In any case, if you have an Evercade VS, an Evercade EXP – or both – what are you waiting for? Go and download the Evercade Game of the Month right now. You can thank me later!

You can purchase the first Indie Heroes Collection from Amazon here, Indie Heroes Collection 2 here and Indie Heroes Collection 3 here.