World of Goo

World of Goo was a very innovative game at the time. A puzzle game using physics in very unique game design. The music, combined with de strange story and thoses tinies "goo", made it very interesting. A lot of replayability. Diferent ways to complete a level, it was one of the first game to promote the "build your own solution" on level designs. The game itself deserves five stars. But I also give five stars for being one of the first indie game to really be absolutely "DRM free". At the time, there were no strong digital plateform to sell the game. You've got to go on the WoG site to buy it, and get, not a installer, but a notepad document instead, with the URL in it with where download the setup files. The URL was unique, without any protection. The developpers made the courageous choice to have an absolute confidence in the customer's ethics. For being so trustful in those times, WoG also deserves five stars.

What I like in this game is that it is very relaxing, with funny sounds and a beautiful soundtrack. It is perfect when you are back from work, when you need a break between fast-paced games or if you have some time to kill. The concept is awesome and so is the realization.

WOG is still one of the best, quintessential puzzle games. It uses its physics engine in innovative ways, the various gooballs have different, useful atrributes, the levels differ greatly so that the game doesn't become repetitive (mostly) and the whole game doesn't overstate its welcome. So no, it's not just about building towers. There are lots of ways where the core gameplay is used for other purposes. Perhaps more importantly, it's gorgeous in its design, music, sound as well as the goofy humour/backstory. I suppose the game would be engaging without these aspects as well, but funky stuff like this are what turn regular games into timeless classics. But hey, it's not perfect. The physics engine, while generally robust and reliable, still adds too much randomness into the gameplay. Sometimes all it needs for a structure to collapse is for enough spare goo balls to dance around in one area (they have their own weight). It can be rather frustrating especially around enviromental hazards. It can also be difficult to grab the right goo ball if there are many at one place. The Undo feature is borderline broken - most of the time I triggered it by mistake when trying to manipulate a goo ball. And if I do need it, it usually doesn't work and I need to trigger it 2 or 3 times because undoing one move usually either doesn't go back enough, or it causes several goo balls to fall to their deaths etc. Also, one chapter, the Tron-like one... It just sucks. I kinda wish WOG would receive a patch to fix the Undo feature and maybe touch up the UI a bit. But even as it is it's still among the best, funniest and most gorgeous puzzle games.

This game has no business being this good. A fantastic physics puzzle game with quirky humour and art style. Starts off pretty easy for the first few levels but gradually increases the difficulty in a balanced manner. Good for casual gamers or hardcore ones. I first bought this for the Wii, then on a tablet of mine a few years later and now on GOG. I keep coming back to this one and am happy to do so. Highly recommend.