Games I Played In 2024 - BoxBoxBoy! (and, by extension, BoxBoy!)

 

Console: 3DS (eShop Exclusive)

Developer: HAL Laboratory

Release Date: June 30th 2016

BoxBoxBoy! is the sequel to BoxBoy! which released a year earlier, though I'd argue it feels more like a massive level pack than a sequel. As a result, I'll be talking about both games, since they're so similar.

BoxBoy! is a minimalistic puzzle game with light platforming elements that is completely based around a single mechanic: being able to extend boxes from your body to create platforms. While this sounds simple and like it would get boring fast, HAL (most known for developing the Kirby games) keep introducing new obstacles and mechanics to keep the game fresh. Also, as is typical of HAL, there's an optional challenge added to every level: a number of crowns (usually just 1, but sometimes 2 or more) are scattered in every level and you need to collect them without using too many boxes. Each level is structured in small areas with a single puzzle separated by checkpoints that you can respawn to at any time, making the whole thing very chill and low stakes. The crowns are typically not too difficult, but require you to be a little conservative with boxes further into the game. The story is as minimalistic as the game's visuals, but it's still cute and odd in its own way. It's not needed, but it's a little extra effort I appreciated.

The mechanic the game centers around is shockingly complex: you can create sets of boxes (the maximum amount of which is determined by the level) connected together, which you can then carry around and throw, or drop and push, creating platforms. Everything in the game is constructed in squares the same size as these, so it's very easy to gauge distances and gaps. The player character, Qbby, can jump up one square and across one square. However, here's the genius part: the boxes are the same size as Qbby... but since he has legs, he's a little taller than them, and he can't move while crouching. As a result, tunnels that are the height one square cannot be walked through, and Qbby can use the second ability the boxes grant him: being able to slide along to the end of the chain and retract them all when he's still attached to them. This ability can also be used to climb, for example by making an upside-down L and hanging it on a higher platform. Just using this and all the obstacles it introduces and mixes together, BoxBoy! is surprisingly content-rich for such a simple-looking little game.

Furthermore, completing levels earns you medals (and getting crowns earns you more!), which you can use to unlock tips and tricks, the game's soundtrack, time attack stages, score attack minigames, or costumes. The costumes let you customise Qbby into multiple silly looks like a rapper, a knight, and a devil. There's even three special costumes that change how the game is played, letting you create an extra box, move twice as fast, or jump twice as high. Completing every level and getting every crown also earns you special costumes with actual colors which stand out tremendously in a monochrome game. It's a nice incentive to keep playing. The time attack and score attack minigames didn't really keep my attention, but I think they're good little additions anyway.

What was most striking to me across the 150+(!!) levels BoxBoy! offers is that while the difficulty is a bit low for a lot of it, the puzzles don't really ever feel like they truly overlap; they truly do feel like HAL are introducing mechanics and properly ramping up their use, eventually mixing them together. From switches and spikes, to laser beams, enemies that need to reach switches, gravity sections, and even conveyor spikes, BoxBoy! keeps itself fresh. Then, just to throw a curveball at the end of the game, it introduces a completely new mechanic where you can create two sets of boxes instead of just one, opening up the gameplay even more. But it feels like it doesn't really scratch the surface of what this mechanic could bring in terms of puzzles.

And that's where BoxBoxBoy! comes in. HAL created over 120 more levels for you to go through with this new mechanic. As a result, the difficulty is a little higher, as it is a more complex game by its very nature, but it's still pretty breezy most of the time. Notably, the difficulty felt a little more uneven due to the added complexity of having a second set of boxes, and down the line I found myself getting stuck in a singular line of thinking and not seeing the solution for a while.

The reason I'm mostly reviewing BoxBoy! when this is a BoxBoxBoy! review is because, like I mentioned, BoxBoxBoy! is more of a level pack than a sequel. It plays the same, looks the same, has most of the same music, and even has almost all of the same obstacles with very few, if any, new additions. There's still crowns to get in a limited number of boxes in every level, and the same concepts are reused but now require using two sets of boxes. The story "continues" and is still cute, odd, minimalistic, and disposable outside of it adding a little extra charm that gives the game more of an "identity" than a straight up puzzle game like the original Tetris or 2048.

The unlockables are also more sparse, with fewer costumes to unlock this time around. The tips & tricks are not purchasable anymore, and there are no time attack or score attack stages anymore. Plus, since most of the music is reused from BoxBoy!, there's not actually that many unlockable new songs. However, you do get to unlock cute little 4 panel comics that are simple and charming. And, if you have BoxBoy! save data, you get access to all your costumes from BoxBoy! which is a very cool feature.

Instead of the time attack and score attack stages, BoxBoxBoy! introduces a special Challenge World, which has a handful of multi-room stages (the only ones in both games) where you get to use the Ninja and Bunny costumes that make you run faster and jump higher, respectively. These were fun, but I found myself wanting more costumes that change the rules, and more stages that take advantage of them. It ended up feeling like the final stages of BoxBoy! in that they change the rules of the game in an intriguing way, but this time there's no real follow-up.

Something that slightly bothered me was that the game never really lets you do more than 2 sets of 4 boxes. You never get to have puzzles for 2 sets of 6 or 7 boxes, for example. While this is likely due to HAL wanting to keep the difficulty on the lower end, I feel like they did so well at onboarding players with new mechanics that it wouldn't have been detrimental to the game's overall difficulty curve.

I will say, though, that all of this is nitpicking at best: BoxBoxBoy! is just as phenomenal, if not moreso, than BoxBoy! as a puzzle game. The barrier of entry is low and the difficulty ramps up just as satisfyingly, and despite mostly being the same game in terms of obstacles and design, the added complexity of getting two sets of boxes is enough to carry the game on its own, even though it suffers in terms of originality.

Finally, the game's soundtrack. I plan on always talking about a game's music at the end of a review, before the little recap. 

BoxBoy! and BoxBoxBoy! share multiple tracks, but these two games (and I'm guessing the entire series, really) share the same musical identity, crafted by Jun Ishikawa of Kirby fame. The music of BoxBoy! and BoxBoxBoy! is serene and, appropriately, minimalistic by leaning on chiptune. The chiptune elements are very basic beeps and boops used well, with even the percussion being done on a synth. However, the songs are accented by clean electric guitars, piano, xylophones, and/or flutes here and there. The tracks fit the overall vibe of the games very well, with more laidback tempos and a nice reverb on some of the synth notes to give it some extra texture. Both soundtracks lend themselves well to thinking and figuring out puzzles with a slight playful edge, with even the faster tracks having a slower melody on top. They're all catchy and will likely stay in your head for a few days after playing. The credits themes in both games are especially lovely, being slower and a little more melancholic. Befitting the games' minimalistic nature, there aren't many tracks to listen to, but they're all solid.

PROS AND CONS

PROS

- Masterfully designed puzzle game that is a genuine joy to play through.

- Surprisingly content-rich despite its scope, even if it's a bit less so than BoxBoy!.

- Catchy, fitting music.

- Cute characters.

- Costumes carry over from BoxBoy! to BoxBoxBoy!

CONS

- Comes across more like a level pack or DLC than a sequel due to a lack of innovation and new features.

- Feels like the core mechanic isn't pushed as far as it could've been.

- Challenge World levels with the Ninja and Bunny costumes feel like the start of an idea that wasn't fully realised.

WORTH PLAYING?

I think both BoxBoy! and BoxBoxBoy! are absolutely worth playing. However, I'd recommend playing BoxBoxBoy! after a full playthrough of BoxBoy!, as the other way around might not be as fun. Plus, the final levels of BoxBoy! lead so perfectly into BoxBoxBoy! that it just makes more sense that way.

Unfortunately, as a 3DS eShop exclusive, BoxBoxBoy! is impossible to buy anymore, unless you seek out a rare Japan-exclusive collection that includes all three 3DS games in the series, the full soundtrack, and the now ultra-rare amiibo of Qbby. Good luck with that!

Here's hoping that the 3DS trilogy is ported to Switch (or its successor) so all four games in the series can be played and purchased on hardware with an active online store.