I’m not going to even try to think up a clever title for this one, since the game in question is so purposefully wry that adding more here would be overkill.
But it’s a good game, and it’s called World of Goo, and you can pre-order it to get a preview copy (for Windows) right now.
It’s been getting a lot of buzz for a while now, getting awards from the Independent Games Festival and mentions on videogame-related blogs all over the place. Anyone who’s even remotely interested in the idea should definitely try the pre-order/preview route, because it completely surprised me.
The concept itself — a physics-based puzzle game — would be interesting enough, but what I wasn’t expecting is the amount of variety they’d be able to get out of it. None of the levels in the first chapter are exactly the same, and it’s remarkable how they managed to take the same basic mechanic and apply it to puzzles that feel completely different.
The entire thing has an extremely slick and professional production, from the graphic design to some terrific music throughout. Best of all, the design doesn’t get in the way of the game, but is all put in the service of making it easy to pick up and start playing — you always know what you’re trying to do, and can instantly start thinking about how you’re going to do it. It’s hard to believe that this was made primarily by a 2-person studio.
Best of all, the game’s coming out for PC and Mac and Linux and the Wii. (Again, the preview copy is Windows only, but a pre-order will get you the Mac & Linux version when it’s released).
It’s an astoundingly well-produced “debut” game (at least one of the 2DBoy boys is involved in the Experimental Gameplay Project and is constantly cranking out new games), and should have every videogame fan looking forward to seeing what they can come up with next.