World of Goo

[GodlessAstronomer]

World of Goo has been on my radar for a few months now, but until today I didn't bother to pick it up, for whatever reason. Well this morning I was reading Coding Horror and he mentioned this game in the context of software piracy. On a whim (and because he provided a link) I downloaded the demo, and immediately bought the game after finishing it.

This game is amazing! It's so much fun. It's innovative, creative, funny, challenging and engaging. I would rate this as one of the top games of the year, and I'm normally someone who plays almost exclusively shooters and racing games. The really cool thing is that it was created by a tiny independent development studio, yet the quality is top notch. This game has a polished fit and finish that is lacking in most 8-figure cost AAA titles.

Has anyone else played this game? Thoughts? (I did a search for World of Goo and only found some passing comments buried in other threads).

If you're interested, check out http://2dboy.com/games.php . The game can be bought online (DRM free) for only $20 (I bought it on Steam for $15, although I wish I'd paid the $5 to get it directly from the devs now). If you're concerned, check out the demo. If you like it, please buy it! If there's one game this year that you pay for instead of pirating it, make is World of Goo. Support talented indie houses and DRM free software. I will definitely be checking out 2d Boys next title.

 

[WraithETC]

Little Big Planet Effect; not even large scale promotion will help this game even though it may be a critical success.

For me either game has no 'hook' no reason for me to want to try it, I don't even want to bother with a demo.

I guess Will Wright was right (boing!) "I'd rather have the sales and metacritic score of the Sims 2 than the sales and metacritic of Half Life 2).

Although in this case you could replace the Sims 2 in that quote with a much worse game like spore and replace half life 2 with world of goo or little big planet.

 

[Fox5]

Played World of Goo for a bit, didn't seem very fun. I'm sure it gets better, but it didn't grab me.

 

[ivan2]

didnt they make this game for a contest at CMU or something?

 

[AzN]

I played it. Very cool game.

 

[AntiFreze]

have it for the Wii, love it.

 

[Maximilian]

Bleh its just another puzzle game according to wiki. I dunno i imagine it would be as fun as peggle, which held my interest for 10 minutes then i got bored.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: AntiFreze
have it for the Wii, love it.

didn't know it was out for wii...was it $50 or cheaper?

 

[abaez]

Love love love this game. One of the best this year along with Braid and The World Ends with You.

 

[CP5670]

I'll try out the demo later today. This looks like my kind of game from the description.

 

[AntiFreze]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: AntiFreze
have it for the Wii, love it.

didn't know it was out for wii...was it $50 or cheaper?

$50? lol. no, I think it was like $15. And the wiimote goes very will with the controls. Highly recommend it.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: AntiFreze

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: AntiFreze
have it for the Wii, love it.

didn't know it was out for wii...was it $50 or cheaper?

$50? lol. no, I think it was like $15. And the wiimote goes very will with the controls. Highly recommend it.

yeah, its wiiware, you buy it and play it much like you would a virtual console game

 

[CP5670]

I just finished the demo levels. Great game, and certainly looks like it's worth picking up. The gameplay objectives and "story" remind me of Lemmings in some ways.

I do have one gripe with it though, the lack of any quicksave or undo function. A puzzle game like this (which is essentially non-real time) really needs that.

 

[Ramma2]

Originally posted by: CP5670
I just finished the demo levels. Great game, and certainly looks like it's worth picking up. The gameplay objectives and "story" remind me of Lemmings in some ways.

I do have one gripe with it though, the lack of any quicksave or undo function. A puzzle game like this (which is essentially non-real time) really needs that.

I thought squishing the fire flies is the undo? At least on the Wii version...

 

[abaez]

Yes, the fireflies are undo.

I'm ok with no quicksave since the levels are so short. The longest one I've done one was maybe 15 minutes, and since you get saved every level it's not a big deal.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
Bleh its just another puzzle game according to wiki. I dunno i imagine it would be as fun as peggle, which held my interest for 10 minutes then i got bored.

It's another puzzle game in the same way that Portal is just another puzzle game. It has a great story and an amazing atmosphere. I almost died laughing during the end-game cut scene.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer

Originally posted by: Maximilian
Bleh its just another puzzle game according to wiki. I dunno i imagine it would be as fun as peggle, which held my interest for 10 minutes then i got bored.

It's another puzzle game in the same way that Portal is just another puzzle game. It has a great story and an amazing atmosphere. I almost died laughing during the end-game cut scene.

o i c. Ill give it a try then.

 

[CP5670]

Originally posted by: abaez
Yes, the fireflies are undo.

I'm ok with no quicksave since the levels are so short. The longest one I've done one was maybe 15 minutes, and since you get saved every level it's not a big deal.

If you can undo a move and return the goo structure to its last state, that's good enough. I saw the flies but thought they were just part of the decoration.

I'm guessing the later levels in the full version are much harder and will take many tries, so 10-15 minutes each time can add up fast. The levels in Lemmings were rarely more than 8 minutes long but it was so common to screw up in the harder ones that you had to redo parts of them many times.

 

[Queasy]

It got alot of attention actually. Since the game doesn't have any DRM it was 'shared' heavily.

It has done very well on WiiWare though. One of the top selling titles and has been on many 'Best of' lists.

 

[Adam8281]

I played the demo, loved it, but felt like I had gotten my "fill" when I reached the end of the demo.

 

[AmberClad]

I've played the demo. The gameplay itself felt very unremarkable -- there seem to be so many indy games of that genre on Steam now. It's the creativity of the art direction and the surprisingly well done music that really make it stand out.

 

[ultra laser]

Felt like a flash game to me.

 

[Slick5150]

Surprised they don't release it on Xbox Arcade. Seems like that'd give them a lot of additional sales.

I actually just tried out the demo the other day and found it quite fun, so I plan on ordering it off Steam when I get a chance.

 

[Praxis1452]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
I've played the demo. The gameplay itself felt very unremarkable -- there seem to be so many indy games of that genre on Steam now. It's the creativity of the art direction and the surprisingly well done music that really make it stand out.

The game itself was atleast throughout the demo was less complex than fantastic contraption.

It is definitely the art direction and the music. It was great fun. I haven't bought it yet, but will soon.

 

[MrPickins]

I hadn't heard of it until today, but I liked the demo enough to buy it from Steam.