Developer: 2D Boy

Publisher: 2D Boy

Release Date: Oct. 13, 2008

Systems: PC (reviewed), Wii

ESRB Rating: E

Official Web site

0:00 For an indie game, World of Goo has been getting massive, massive amounts of hype. It was this RPS piece that finally pushed me into sitting down with the demo, though.

0:01 The game displays some cute, SimCity-esque messages while loading up: "Distilling beauty ... Challenging everything ... Debating games as art ... swapping time and space." Heh. The title screen has a small globe in silhouette and some soaring music. On to Chapter 1, "The Goo Filled Hills."

0:02 "Summer," says white text on a black title card. The first level is "Going Up," which is described as "Easy as Goo pie." A sign in the background tells me to "Drag 'n' drop to build to the pipe." Down below there's a sort of black latticework structure. On it are thick, black balls of goo traveling all over the place. They have eyes. Creepy!

0:04 At first my dragging and dropping does nothing ... the goo balls just drop back to the ground. Eventually I notice some thin, wispy lines when I drag the goo close. When I let go, those lines become new struts on an ever-expanding, teetering tower. When I reach the pipe hanging above, all the goo balls that are still traipsing about get sucked up. I have the option to submit my score to the "World of Goo Leaderboard of Excellence." Nice name.

0:05 Level 2, "Small Divide," is described as "Easier than it looks."

0:06 Quote of the moment, from an info sign: "Its opening looked warm and inviting."

0:07 As I build across a gap, my makeshift goo bridge teeters and droops. It never quite falls over, though. I finally get one edge to rest on the other side, which stabilizes things quite a bit. Kind of simple so far.

0:08 In "Hang Low" I have to "wake up the sleeping goo." Everything's white and snowy and quite beautiful. The music is especially pretty and lilting.

0:10 Interesting ... this time I had to build down to the sleeping goo on the ground, then build up to get them all to the overhead pipe. This requires some support struts on the sides. Interesting, but I'm still waiting for the game to really bring the hard.

0:11 The ground shakes and "World of Goo Corporation is now open." "Let's go shopping," says a disfigured, hand-drawn girl, and three ugly companions hop along. The World of Goo Corp. is now unlocked, but for now I'm gonna check out the next level, "Impale Sticky." "If you get in trouble, just go back in time," says an in-game message. So it's Sands of Time now?

0:13 A wooden sign describes this level's layout as "ridiculously contrived terrain." I love games that don't take themselves too seriously...

0:19 Be careful what you ask for ... I asked them to "bring the hard" and they did, with a level that involves curving a tower around a steep overhang with two black buzz saws on it. Everything I build either tilts into the buzz saws or away from them and into the bottomless pit. When I finally succeed in creating a sort of makeshift structure that can support the kind of tower I want, I've lost too many goo balls to complete the level. Retry.

0:25 I'm much more careful this time, building a complex latticework support structure to prevent my tower from wobbling too much. I do better this time, but the buzz saw still claimed too many of my gooey brethren. It's trending in the right direction, though.

0:29 I got it! The key was creating a brace around the lower platform to provide the much-needed stability to bend around the buzz saw perfectly. I feel so smart for finally figuring it out!

0:30 Ooh, the map splits at this point. I choose "Flying Machine" over "Ivy Towers" because I was never one for Ivy League snobbery.

0:32 Interesting ... I have to place helium-filled balloon balls to open up a gate, then lift a small goo tower up to the exit pipe. The physics modeling is impressively realistic as the tower sways in the breeze.

0:33 Let's follow the path on to "Fisty's Bog." There's a giant blobby creature in this one... he looks like he's spitting up the inky black tower. "Fisty swore he would never be like those tadpoles that grow up and shoot colored gems out of their mouths." Take THAT, Zuma!

0:38 Some more helium balloons help support my ever-droopy horizontal goo bridge. If I go too high or too low, spiked walls will destroy all my hard work. This level actually requires some quick reflexes to place the balloons before the structure topples completely. Or maybe I'm just doing it wrong. The mistake-erasing "time flies" are quite useful here.

0:39 I just noticed the "Shortcut to the World of Goo Corporation" on the map screen, which promises "exciting innovations in good products." All the extra goo balls I've rescued are here. Apparently it's infinite in all directions. Clouds represent the towers of others. "Strange, everyone just wants to build UP," says the sign. "What's up there anyway? Some kind of metagame?" Heh.

0:41 The WoG Corp. gets old quick, so I head back to the game proper. The hint for "Tower of Goo" is "Higher and Higher." Like a Tower of Babel? Goo balls rain down as the level starts. "Go as fast as you can, they're stronger than you think" says the mysterious Sign Painter.

0:45 The key seems to be keeping the narrow tower's center of gravity balanced, but every time I get to a certain height it inevitably tips to one side or the other, ruining all my efforts. It seems the goos traveling along the tower affect the balance semi-randomly. My laptop touchpad makes it hard to build quickly enough...

0:49 This time I start out by building a wider base, which gives me a little more stability. I still can't quite reach the exit pipe, though, before the whole thing starts teetering all over the place. I try to rebalance it on the fly, but I'm just not fast enough ... once it truly starts to topple, it's over.

0:54 I spare no expense this time, building an entirely ridiculous support structure that goes far and wide, and reinforcing it constantly as I go up. Only at the very end do I sprint to the finish with a thin, windy tower that threatens to fall any minute. I make it to the pipe just in time. VICTORY!

0:55 Doubling back to "Ivy Towers" now, which promise "a new species of goo ball!" Oboyoboyoboy.

0:59 Neat ... unlike the constantly moving black goo balls, these green ones can be unstuck and replaced in new locations. Using the Sign Painter's advice, I do a spider-like climb up the tower. That'll have to do for now.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? Good physics, good puzzle design and quickly-ramping difficulty combine with lively visuals and music to create a thoroughly enjoyable game. My only complaint is my laptop's touchpad.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.

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