Bloxy with Moxy

A few weeks ago I picked up a Wii game called Boom Blox. It's a quirky little game that was created by EA and, of all people, Steven Spielberg.

In theory, its a simple puzzle game. These simple puzzles though, quickly become surprisingly challenging (at least to get the gold star on). Because of this hidden challenge, the game is also surprisingly addictive. There are a few different types of puzzles. Levels involve shooting, Jenga-like puzzles, and ball throwing. The shooting levels are a tad boring, and aren't exactly flawless in funtion -especially with multiplayer. The Jenga levels are exactly that - Jenga. While these are a lot of fun, the throwing levels are the most fun. Basically there is a stack of blox that you must knock down with as few throws as possible. Some involve exploding blox, some vanishing blox, and others have "chemical" blox that only explode when in contact with each other. All of which add an interesting twist to an already eccentric game.

While single player is fun, the game doesn't really shine until you're playing it with others. Multiplayer levels offer both co-op and vs modes, and both are a blast. When playing with my friends, the favorite seems to be the castle mode. Each player has a castle that the others are trying to demolish with thrown baseballs. Think Warlords for the Wii.

This isn't to say that multiplayer coop mode isn't just as fun. Here the mode du jour seems to be the Jenga mode. The night we all tried it out, the sound of "ooo's", "aah's" and spirited screaming for the stack to stay upright could be heard around the block.

The game is easy to pick up and start playing and the Wiimote lends itself well to both the throwing balls and pulling blox (just don't try to pull towards yourself). Shooting is another story, single player works well but there seemed to be a lot of lag with multiplayer. It's possible, though that this is due to the setup at my house and not the game.

Bottom line, I can't recommend this game enough. It's good for everyone, from hardcore gamer to grandmas. While Wii Fit get's more of my time right now, Boom Blox is easily my favorite Wii game at the moment.