FiveBlocksFall – My First Indie Game (SFML) + A Social Twist on Highscores

Hi everyone,
I’m Michele, an IT developer from Italy and a long‑time boardgame designer. In my free time I’ve been working on my first indie videogame: FiveBlocksFall, a fast-paced puzzle game built with C++ and SFML.

The core idea is simple: blocks fall, you rotate them, and you try to survive as long as possible. But the game slowly accelerates, and the pressure builds up. It’s inspired by classic arcade tension, but with a modern twist.

What makes it different: MySocialScore

One feature I’m experimenting with is something I call MySocialScore.
Instead of a traditional leaderboard, the game tracks how your score compares to the entire player base in real time.
It’s not just “your score is 12,000”, but “you’re better than 78% of all players today”.

This creates a kind of social pressure loop that I find interesting — players try to climb not just a number, but a percentile.

The backend is built using Cloudflare Workers + KV, and the game communicates through lightweight HTTPS calls.

Tech notes

• Engine: SFML

• Language: C++

• Input system: full gamepad support (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro)

• Unicode support for player comments (UTF‑8, codepoint counting)

• Leaderboard backend: Cloudflare Workers

• Platform: Windows (for now)

What I’m working on now

I’m currently preparing version 1.5, which includes:

• a redesigned menu

• improved controller mapping

• better UX for the leaderboard

• a new “Scenario Mode” prototype

Looking for feedback

I’d love to hear opinions on:

• the MySocialScore idea

• the UX of the leaderboard

• the overall feel of the gameplay loop

• anything related to SFML performance or architecture

Download / Play

You can find the game here:
👉 https://michelemura72.itch.io/fiveblocksfall

Thanks for reading — happy to answer any questions or discuss the tech side.