World of Goo
Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux
After months of anticipation, 2D Boy proudly presents World of Goo, a whimsical game of building, demolition, and gelatinous creatures. To say the least, this might be the most beautiful mess you'll ever play with in your life.
The objective of (most) levels in this game is to collect a certain number of gooballs in the suction pipe at the end of the level. To do this you build a slimy structure by grabbing one of the goo guys and dragging it to the others and forming a connection. The resulting structure is affected by surprisingly realistic physics, so things like gravity and friction come into play quite often. Once your structure is close enough to the pipe the suction will turn on and any of the gooballs creeping around on the frame of your building will be sucked through the pipe.
There are several types of gooballs to be played with, each with its own unique characteristics. Some can cling to more than two other points at one time, some catch on fire if they get too close to flames, and some dangle from the structure like water drops. It is possible to get the requisite number of gooballs to the pipe, but not before encountering some nasty obstacles first. The most frequent of these is spikes, which can instantly pop your gooballs and destroy your perfectly good triangles.
If you happen to get more than the minimum number of gooballs extracted from a level, those extra gooballs get taken to the World of Goo Corporation. Here you are allowed to freely build with the gooballs, trying to make as tall of a tower as you can. You can even compare the height of your tower with other players around the world. But is there another purpose behind the building of this tower?
Analysis: Honestly, there aren't many bad things to say about this game at all. 2D Boy has pulled out all the stops to create a game that's not only fun and innovative, but also humorous, addicting, and fun for the whole family. (That's right, it's even officially rated "E for Everyone" by the ESRB!)
The game is stylistically gorgeous, with Hollywood-quality animations and graphics that are reminiscent of a Dr. Seuss book mixed with a few gallons of jam pectin. Once you step into the World of Goo, you're immersed in the personality of the world. An anonymous "sign-painter" leaves you hints and suggestions throughout the game, but does it with a light sense of humor that seems as though it's straight from a sitcom (a funny one, mind you), all while magically communicating to you through a sign that, no matter how many times you flip it over, always has something different written on the other side. (We figure it's best not to question these things.)
The level of difficulty in this game seems to be just about right; no stage is too difficult to be solved, but no level is too easy that it gets boring. Yes, you might need to use trial and error to figure out solutions, and you might need to keep hitting that "retry" button a few times before you finally figure out the solution, but in the end, even your failed attempts feel like they were fruitful and encouraging attempts to get it right. And even if you do pass the levels with excessive ease, there's always the task of matching the OCD (Obsessive Completion Distinction) requirements for that extra challenge.
World of Goo is definitely something you shouldn't miss, if not for the stunning design, the fascinating gameplay, the delightful humor, and the all-around amazing game that it is, then for the rush of excitement when you finish the installation process, and see this window. When a game introduces itself to you like this, you know you're in for a good time.
Once upon a time, a small game was released with little fanfare onto an unsuspecting world. The idea behind it was to connect chatty little goo balls and construct a tower with them. The game was called Tower of Goo and it was, and still is, free.
Flash forward a few years and 2D Boy has released full-fledged version of the game now known as World of Goo. The basic premise of the game has remained the same, but the framework around that premise is a whole heck of a lot different. One level features another type of goo — a reusable green variety — and a pipe too far away. When it clicks that you can shimmy up the walls by rebuilding your structure as you go, the games depth and inventiveness begins to show. Later levels introduce floating goo, dead goo, and goo you can't pick up. Not content with simply making each level harder, "Go this far with this many goo balls", the game constantly re-invents itself: "Travel sideways using balloons".
Mac version of World of Goo now available!
What separates this from other puzzle games is that it never, ever claims to be a puzzle game. Sure there are goals to achieve through use of a given amount of strict parameters, but the game holds a big curtain of fun in front of everything that you are presented with and allows you only to see that you are enjoying yourself. World of Goo transcends any confines of traditional gameplay by hiding what makes the game work behind a sheen of brilliant enjoyment.
Windows:
Download the demo
Get the full version
Mac OS X:
Download the demo
Get the full version
Linux:
Download the demo
Get the full version
World of Goo is also available for WiiWare download (North America, 1,500 points). A Linux version is in the works.
WiiWare, sweet! That's a platform I own.
But I've got too much memory stored on my Wii, so I won't be able to download much. I'll have to delete something, maybe sell back some of my old Wii games.
How do I play this? Do I need WiiWare, like the above comment. I can do WiiWare.
Never mind. I'm stupid.
It is a fun game, but very very short, maybe 10 hours for me, with little replay value. Hopefully there will be a lot of add-on or user levels in the future.
There is a level editor in the works as well, which should cause an explosion of user-generated content.
I'd have to disagree with the comment re: little replay value though. As soon as I finished World of Goo, I started a new profile and tried it all from scratch, trying to achieve that elusive OCD criteria each round. The Steam version of the game has additional achievements too, which provide another layer of replayability.
It has greatly increased the hours I've put into World of Goo, and I've yet to feel bored with it.
Short? Y'all are better engineers than I am, then. I'm stuck on two of the demo levels. Can't get my construct to curve around the saws before tumbling over, and can't get my bog-bridge properly balanced.
I find myself saying "Hold still, you little suckers!" a lot, though, as I try to see where I'm placing things. And I still haven't quite caught on to the mechanic which causes a gooball to connect to 3+ others instead of two. Sometimes (when I don't want it to connect) it seems to be simple proximity, but then when I try to get it to connect, it won't.
Regular black goos will only connect to two others. Green goos will connect to 3 and can be pulled off and re-attached. Albino goos can connect to 4 other goos.
Goodness, that's fun - and you can tell the developers had a lot of fun, too. While we're waiting for the Mac and Linux versions, I'm happy to report that the Windows version runs very nicely under CrossOver Mac.
I've been playing using CrossOver Games for Mac as well. :)
Awesome game Kyle and Ron!! \o/
Did you guys download it from the site that the link took you to? I am a bit wary of sites I do not know. The forum was talking about having a problem with the download. But they fixed it toward the end. I had a trojan that was messing with my computer and managed to get rid of it.. But no thanks to the site I went to. Thanks
This has been the best game that i have played since a long time. I managed to finish the whole game on the PC. I really wanna try and see how it works on the Wii. Its a must have and truly enjoyable...
Icebear, just download it from the site we link to above.
Guaranteed to be free from virus, adware, spyware, etc.
I spent a long time my first play through just looking around each level, taking it all in. Next time i'm going to go for OCD on every level, except I doubt i'll be able to get them for a lot of the levels, heh. I also spend a lot of time playing in the world of goo corporation meta-game.
This game is like "Tim Burton and Jhonen Vasquez team up to make Fantastic Contraption!" WE LOVE IT!!
*sigh* We're stuck with the demo for now, as we're having to save up for my hospital visit this December (unless someone decides to come early...) or else we'd already have the full game. As addictive as it is, maybe that's a GOOD thing!
--TwoDragons
From a games perspective, there is nothing I could complain at, or suggest to improve. I'm staggered, this is the first time! Bah..
Demo works well under Wine in Linux.
LOL Fuzzyface!
Your comment was a pleasure to see. Thank you. ;)
This is very heavily related to tower of babel which was one of the first of these skeleton structure tower builders.
Have to say this is a nice development on the idea, a good advancement to a good foundation
GAH...!!! I hate the one level. Umm... The "tower of goo" first world, Summer. !!!! *playing friends copy*
The Tower of Goo level was the first level I got stuck on. Passed it the second time through by building as fast as I could. Stick those gooballs with haste, don't worry too much about building a sturdy structure. Just go UP!
This game is fantabulous! After owning it for a mere 24 hours, I had already blown through all but about 7 of the levels in the game. It's a load of fun in its simplicity and quite addictive...you cannot just play one level. The "OCD" option that allows you to replay levels to reach a "best" is great, keeps me coming back! I own this game for the Wii.
hahahaha nice
https://jayisgames.com/images/worldofgoo4.gif
For anyone on a Mac who would like to play this game and participate in beta testing of the Mac version, you can find out more information here:
http://2dboy.com/forum/index.php?topic=116.0
I remember playing the original when i found out about the experimental gameplay project on G4. I thought the original was okay, but seeing it turn into a game of this quality is simply mindblowing.
I've been waiting forever for this game to come out! I got it right when it was released on WiiWare. I pretty much stayed up all night waiting.
It's so fun!
Thanks so much 2D Boy!
Mac version now available!
Since the game is really open, I looked at the program files, and lo and behold, the sign painter was there too.
This is from the config file:
IMPORTANT WARNING: If you edit this file, your computer will probably explode. Your friend, the High Resolution Sign Painter
I can't get past the deliverance stage. The last stage of level 3. Undelete objects needs to be brought down. I'm stuck. Help please.
maybe the hanging goo line could be pushed somehow towards the flame ;)
I just bought it for Wii after playing the demo on my Mac [I'm a little miffed (don't think I've ever said, "miffed" before) that I'll have to play those levels over again, though]! It's almost done downloading!
Hey, does anyone know whether anything actually happens from getting high enough, playing long enough, et cetera, in the corporation? Well, I really enjoyed the game, and I liked the end (even though there was no cake), and it definitely left it open for a sequel.
Oi! I want it so bad but I don't do X-mas (cheap parents) so asking would be a stretch. Urgh. There's no hard copy so I don't feel so secure with only a website for download. What if the server crashes? I want it so bad! and I have the money but I don't know whether I can get it or not. The suspension is killing me.
This game makes so much fun. For those who have problems on some levels, there are many users posting videowalkthroughs on youtube.
Therefor search for the users
wogfan or otschoVIII on youtube.
But don't spoil or your levels, only those which bring you a headache :)
I'm in love with this game.. usually I'm such a hard critic! I don't have anything against this one!
The names Tim Burton and Danny elfman pops in my mind. ;P
so at the end of the first level, I go up as far as it will go but nothing happens. I'm confused
I love the game so far, but have been stuck on welcoming unit. I understand that the key is in breaking the chain, but I have not been able to get past it.
i just cant stop playing this game, it's infuriatingly addictive!! 5/5
This is truly a terrific game. I've found the "regular" game fairly easy once you get the hand on things, but the OCD requirements are often brutal (and the ways of achieving them sometimes unbelievably unorthodox).
However I am sad to hear that 2D Boy officially went down, which probably means no more goo, ever. Too bad, this game REALLY needs quality sequels.. :(
GNU/Linux version available.
Can you you unscrew the screws?
Sweet game. A little tricky at times, but then I admit that I'm not very good at it. I had to skip several in Chapter 1 and 2, and half of 3.
By the way, did you see the last one of Chapter 3? Pure awesomeness. I LOL'd at
WARNING!!! You appear to be incompatible with: THE WORLD
how do you get past the last level in chapter 1?
@anonymous:
Look up.
you have to build up the tube, and then detach.
the eyes are balloons. Use them to float out.
This game is really outstanding- the music reminds me of ---- what game??? I know I've heard it before, especially in the third level, the first albino goo level. Small Worlds, maybe?
Hello everyone! NICE game, hadn't skips in all 4 chapters except last (I think) level of chapter 4 playing on the screen of Mom's comp)) even dont know what should I do there??? help me smbd pls!!
I really enjoyed this game. Great game play, very simplistic yet beautiful graphics. Not only does this game kill time but you'll find it very enticing to play. I would totally recommend this to anyone who is looking for a simple challenging game.
Please can someone help me? I play the world of goo on android and obtained the whistle. But how to use it if you don't have a mouse? I can't find the answer anywhere on the internet.
Update