Back to feed
Dev.to
Dev.to
7/18/2026
How I Built a Block Puzzle Game with React Native and Expo

How I Built a Block Puzzle Game with React Native and Expo

Short summary

A solo developer shares lessons from building Blockbeam, an 8x8 block puzzle game, using React Native and Expo instead of Unity. The post covers the tech stack (Reanimated, Gesture Handler, SVG, AsyncStorage), board state management with a flat array, a greedy auto-play solver, and drag mechanics with finger-offset UX. The game is live on Google Play, free with no paywalls.

  • •React Native + Expo is viable for 2D puzzle games without needing Unity
  • •Core implementation: flat 64-element array for board state, PanResponder for drag-and-drop
  • •Includes a greedy solver bot that tries every piece placement to maximize line clears

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.

Read full article at Dev.to

Is this a good recommendation for you?

Comments

Failed to load comments. Please try again.

Explore more

Built two browser puzzle games
Dev.to
I got tired of bad mobile puzzle games, so I built my own; here's what I learned
Dev.to
The original title is about building a daily puzzle site and the tech stack. Let me rewrite this for a mobile feed.
Dev.to
The original title is "How to Build a Project Management App Like Trello in 2026"
Dev.to