77/100
Players14 ratings: 83/100
Critics4 reviews

Where to get it

Nintendo eShop

2015 · HAL Laboratory · Platformer · Puzzle

BoxBoy!

Nintendo exclusive

Box Boy! is a platform game in which players control a box-shaped character named Qbby as he makes his way through each level. The source of the game's mechanics come from Qbby's ability to spawn boxes out of his body, the number of which varies between each level. These boxes can spread out in whatever direction is possible to make various shapes and can either be carried or thrown and pushed around.

Released: 2 April 2015
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Genres: Platformer Puzzle Puzzle-platformer Strategy
Developers: HAL Laboratory
Publishers: Nintendo
Series: BoxBoy!
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Fantasy Science fiction Historical Educational
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E PEGI 3 CERO A
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish (Spain)
Entry: #1 in BoxBoy!
Time to beat: 4.5hmain story

About

BoxBoy! is a 2015 puzzle-platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the first installment in the BoxBoy! series.

Players control Qbby, a square-shaped character who can produce a string of connected boxes. The boxes are used to overcome obstacles in stages that Qbby must be guided through.

Keywords

aliens
death
robots
spaceship
flight
time limit
edutainment
blocks
pixel art
base building
teleportation
giant insects

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

BoxBoy! is a puzzle platform video game in which players control a square-shaped character named Qbby. The goal of the game is to guide Qbby through a series of obstacle-filled stages that are divided into sets called worlds. Each world is focused on a particular gameplay theme: for example, one world introduces stages that contain deadly lasers, and another introduces cranes for transporting Qbby around.

The central gameplay mechanic is Qbby's ability to create boxes and make use of them to clear the obstacles. Boxes are created one at a time as a connected string and the maximum number of boxes in a string varies between each stage. Qbby can detach the string of boxes then push it to different positions. The boxes can be used to overcome obstacles, such as creating a bridge to pass bottomless pits or building staircases to reach higher platforms.

Development

BoxBoy! was developed by Japanese video game company HAL Laboratory. It was a small experimental project in development while the studio was working on Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. The project plan for BoxBoy!

was conceived in July 2011 by employee Yasuhiro Mukae, who would later serve as the game's director. , Mukae had never designed or directed a game, but his interest in undertaking these roles prompted him to start planning a project. His lack of experience and the difficulty of designing a game with a large scope led him to plan a game that was simple and compact. The concept of BoxBoy!

Reception

BoxBoy! received generally favourable reviews from critics according to review aggregator website Metacritic.

Some reviewers highlighted that the early stages in BoxBoy! felt too basic, and consequently, the game did not make a great first impression. GameSpot writer Justin Haywald described the simplicity of the game's initial puzzles as "almost off-putting". However, he was satisfied with the more elaborate stages presented after progressing through the game, calling the puzzles "ingenious" and praising the intelligent use of the box-manipulation mechanic.