“No. No you don't. No...no...no...no no no no!”
That was me while playing the new WiiWare game World of Goo. I was trying to verbally coax a half-finished bridge out of collapsing into the crevice over which it hovered.
I had built the bridge from balls of the game's titular goo. Players can stretch these balls into complex, load-bearing latticework, creating not just bridges but also towers, scaffolds, and a variety of other structures. I had provided support for my overpass by placing goopy struts down the edge of the cliff, but the gap was wide, and my most recently placed ball of goo was causing the entire bridge to sag precariously toward the jagged spikes pointing up from the bottom of the ravine.
Predictably, pleading with the goo did no good. The bridge dipped, wavered, then fell. My faulty engineering had directly resulted in the loss of several good balls of goo.
I tried to feel bad, but I couldn't. I was having too much fun.
World of Goo is a breath of fresh air in a video game season that, with few exceptions, is being overrun by guns and gore. The goo balls, with their googly eyes, are undeniably endearing creatures, and the 2D backgrounds, while basic, are filled with a cartoonish, Dr. Seuss-meets-Edward Gorey sort of character. It's sweet, simple, creative visual design.
But it's World of Goo's physics-based conundrums that make the game a truly special—perhaps even brilliant—interactive experience. I've only played about 20 puzzles so far, and already my mind has blown and reblown by all of the clever ways I've been able to play with the goo.
For example, a level set in a slowly revolving tumbler sent the apparatus I was building falling to the side every couple of seconds. It forced me to be quick, strategic, and patient, waiting for just the right moments to place goo balls so that I could build a long, narrow tower that would eventually wedge itself between the barrel's rotating sides long enough for my remaining goo balls to make their escape into a pipe suspended high above.
Another puzzle had me manipulating goo balls to make them scale the walls of a canyon. I was able to make them climb higher by setting up a network of gooey beams between cliff faces to create horizontal tension capable of supporting the structure growing above.
The key all of this goopy fun is a physics engine that mimics extraordinarily well the physical laws that govern meatspace. All we really need do in the game is apply our understanding of and experience with real world forces such as gravity and wind. It makes for wonderfully intuitive play that has potential to appeal to just about anyone.
It's worth noting that World of Goo isn't just for people who own a Wii. You can purchase and download the game for your PC or Mac right now by going to the developer's web site. It costs $20 (U.S.) and is worth every penny.
(Thanks go to reader Luke Powell, who brought World of Goo to my attention last month.)
