Boom Blox (Wii, 2008)

To be honest, I do not own a Wii, but I did play Boom Blox a number of months ago on someone else's and absolutely fell in love with it. I am a huge fan of puzzle games, and am still confused as to why Boom Blox never caught on as a big hit.

It is really a simple formula... towers of blocks, akin to Jenga are stacked in the playing field (not all are Jengaesque, there are some great variations). There are myriad balls, ropes and guns with which to throw, pull and shoot blocks from the tower(s), causing them to fall. For each block that you remove from the stack, you get points.

Structural integrity comes into play when you remove key structural pieces, causing the tower (or wall) to topple, racking up massive points for well executed moves. There are even opportunuities to topple one tower into another, knocking them both over.

Single player is fun, and, as with most games, is where you unlock new playing fields and characters. However, Boom Blox is a multi-player game at its core. The single player game has you trying to topple the towers with as few moves as possible, but multi-player is a bit more involved... removing a key piece only sets your opponent up for massive points if you don't get it right... so each move needs to be thought out so as not to weaken the structure enough to set your opponent up to knock it down... and in this regard, the more players the better.

Graphics are crisp and clean for the Wii, and some of the music tracks are so catchy that I find them going through my head days after playing. Control is intuitive if you are used to motion controllers... rotate the structure on 2 axis, and use a throwing motion to hurl virtual balls... pretty straight forward, and feels very natural.

I bought this game as a gift for a friend knowing that I will get to play without having to get a Wii myself. She is now hooked on it herself.

Two thumbs up, highly reccomended title (if you can find a copy at a reasonable price.. it was a limited run and can be either scarce or expensive... luckily I found a copy for under twenty bucks, but I have seen them go for as high as fifty or sixty)

Boom Blox is similar to various other Wii games in that it is a series of short "levels" where the player has to solve a puzzle. Many Wii games (Raving Rabbids, WarioWare, etc) rely mostly on rapid movements of the Wiimote, while Boom Blox us much more about problem solving and finer controls. Many of the puzzles are roughly similar to the real-life game of Jenga, only much more complex. Others involve throwing a ball at just the right speed and angle to knock down structures made from blocks. The game apparently has 300 unique puzzles that involve a variety of skills, so I think its going to be a while before this game gets old. The Wiimote interface is really easy to use and makes the game more fun to play.

The characters are cute and the sound effects are fun, I've wound up laughing out loud several times during the game. Single and multi-player gameplay is good - I've spent a few hours playing Boom Blox by myself and with my girlfriend and it's a lot of fun either way.

I haven't tried the level creator / editor functionality yet, but I'll look forward to using it after I've finished most of the core levels.

I bought this game based on high marks at gaming sites. When I first started playing (or training, which is where you have to start) I thought it was childish and overly simple. The "Sponge-Bob" like characters were mildly annoying, and the graphics seemed very elememtary.

4 and a half hours later, I had to force myself to put down the controller and go to bed. It challenges your mind to look at things from all sides and decide on the best course of action to take. Very well thought out. There are mini games to ease the brain a bit and plenty of variety to make you want to go on. I've only made it through about half of the levels and haven't even touched on any of the customization features. A very sound purchase in (and for) my mind.

Boom Blox is a game for the whole family. With over 300+ puzzles this game won't get old fast, especially with the Create Mode. There are many different things to do on it, plus it gives you a few samples. Personally, I like making stages where you either blow up, blast, throw, or hit the little block characters! :) It may be hard to unlock everything but it's still fun. The multiplayer mode is also very fun. There are plenty of different games to play. My personal favorite game is where you throw bowling balls at each others castle and try to destroy your opponent's castle before you lose your own. If you beat the first puzzles you can unlock harder challenges that *cough* are harder. (They can be a challenge, even for my parents =_=' ) Even if you don't like puzzles you should still try this fun game!

i was skeptical, how fun can this be? but its got our whole family hooked. its not just destroying ,it takes skill and a plan to bring things down in as least moves as possible. laws of ballance / gravity / stratagy! very fun. though i think very few games are worth the 49 $ new price, this one is great to pick up used 30$ or less. fun for adults and my 6 yr old and 10 yr old love it toooooo!