The calculation is much more complicated because the block is so tall. Gravity will act on the y axis of the block, also helping it to be picked up on one side.
Picture two force vectors: one force vector lifting straight up on one side on the bottom of the block (your video game character) and one force vector always pulling down on the very top of the block (gravity). The system is "dynamic" meaning, the more you lift it, the easier it is to lift.
For the sake of the calculation, finding how much force is required to lift it just a tiny tiny bit would be enough to find the maximum force applied.
Why?
Because that would give us the upper limit without having to involve gravity too much. Remember, only do enough to come up with your answer. This is a "simple" second class lever system, if you do it that way.
Fe = l dl / de
FE = force effort
l = load
dl = distance of load from fulcrum
de = distance of effort.
IIRC, from my first year physics class...you pretend the load is at the center and divide by 2 to find the "load" of a lever that is actually the load.
Meaning...pretend you're picking up a support beam on one side. The Fulcrum is the other side where it touches the ground. The load is the support beam itself, meaning, the load is distributed evenly across the whole lever.
One way to test my memory to see if I'm remember this right is to split the load into 4-8 even parts across an imaginary lever arm. Calculate for each point, and add the system up/together. Compare that to my idea of putting all the load in the center and dividing it by two.
If the two are very close, then I'm remembering this correctly.
Then we just find the area of his hands. That should not be too hard. His hands look to be, if you consider that he only has 2 fingers and one thumb, about the same area as a large man's hand.