HAL Laboratory’s retro-themed puzzle platformer BOXBOY! will be available for download on the North American and European 3DS eShops now.
Announced during last week’s Nintendo Direct, the game tasks you with guiding a box-like character through increasingly tricky levels, using his ability to generate additional boxes to overcome puzzles. The game launched in Japan earlier this year.
Basically, when you see a box in a game, you know it has a use — and Boxboy takes that idea to its logical extreme. Boxboy’s core mechanic is a bit strange at first, but becomes natural once you play for a bit. Essentially, you’re able to generate boxes at will (the number varies depending on the puzzle) and use them create shapes to help you progress.
You can only have one box structure at a time, and the challenge comes from figuring out the ideal shape to get you where you need to be. You can make a staircase to get up high, or a bridge to cross a gap. Eventually you’ll even be able to make a grappling hook out of boxes to propel yourself up ledges.
This simple conceit works, and doesn’t grow tiring, because Boxboy constantly throws new ideas at you. Each new world in the game — which consists of around seven levels each — introduces a new concept, whether it’s moving conveyor belts, cranes that can pick up boxes, or stumbling characters who you’ll need to guide to safety. It’s pretty amazing how many things you can do with boxes. It took me around five hours to beat the initial set of levels, but after the credits roll, multiple new worlds open up and you can unlock time and score challenges as well. There are 173 stages in all.
