
- 70/100
- Players5 ratings

1989 · Atlus · Puzzle
Kwirk
Nintendo exclusive
Kwirk has three game modes: Going Up?, Heading Out?, and Vs. Mode, each one with its own set of rules. The object is to get from one end of the room to the staircase on the other by rotating turnstiles, moving blocks, and filling holes with blocks.
- Released
- 24 November 1989
- Platforms
- Famicom Disk SystemGame Boy
- Genres
- Puzzle
- Developers
- Atlus
- Publishers
- —
- Modes
- MultiplayerSingle-player
- Perspective
- Bird view / Isometric
- Themes
- Comedy
About
Kwirk, known in Japan as Puzzle Boy (パズルボーイ, Pazurubōi), is a puzzle video game developed and published by Atlus in Japan on November 24, 1989, for the Game Boy. It was the very first video game Atlus released under its own brand. The game was later published in North America in March 1990 by Acclaim Entertainment.
Keywords
- blocks
- pixel art
- anthropomorphism
- rotating platforms
- game boy link cable support
Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
Kwirk has three game modes: Going Up?, Heading Out?, and Vs. Mode, each one with its own set of rules. The object is to get from one end of the room to the staircase on the other by rotating turnstiles, moving blocks, and filling holes with blocks.
The game has three skill levels: Level 1 - Easy, Level 2 - Average and Level 3 - Hard. One of two viewpoints may be selected: Diagonal or Bird's Eye. In Diagonal view, characters and blocks have shadows and appear in crude 3D, whereas in Bird's Eye view everything is 2D, viewed from the top down. The three skill levels and two viewpoints are featured in all three game modes.
Story
Kwirk and his girlfriend Tammy were both out "painting the town red" when they decided to explore the unnamed city's subterranean labyrinth below. While down there, Tammy suddenly disappears and Kwirk, with his Veggie Friends, now has to find her in the labyrinth and bring her home.
In the original Japanese version of the game, the player character is an anthropomorphized potato called Spud. This was changed to a tomato named Kwirk for the US release. In both releases, the character Kwirk has set out to save is a tomato.
Reception
Kwirk received largely positive reviews. Reviewers praised the game's challenging difficulty. According to Mean Machines, which rated the game a score of 85%, Kwirk is one of the "simple, but very addictive" puzzle games, as stated by Julian Rignall. Because of the number of different screens, it doesn't "become boring quickly".
Rignall stated the game gets "incredibly hard" and "really taxes" the player's brain. Matt Regan criticized that once the player has solved each puzzle, there is "no interest left". The German magazine Video Games reviewed Kwirk in its first issue and awarded it a "Video Games Classic" due to a score of 85%. The magazine's editor Stephan Englhart praised the game's variety of modes and puzzles.
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
Editions and related releases
- Ported as
- Puzzle Boy
Games like this
70Puzzle Boy
1989 · Game Boy, TurboGrafx-16 +1
Puzzle · Blocks

Sid & Al's Incredible Toons
1993 · MS-DOS, macOS
Puzzle · Pixel art

The Password Game
2023 · Browser
Puzzle · Often paired
30The Great Waldo Search
1992 · NES, SNES +1
Puzzle · Often paired
PlayStation exclusiveNo One Can Stop Mr. Domino!
1998 · PlayStation
Puzzle · Blocks

Harry the Handsome Executive
1997 · macOS
Puzzle · Often paired
Nintendo exclusive3D Tetris
1996 · Virtual Boy
Puzzle · Often paired
Xbox exclusive50Wits and Wagers
2008 · Xbox 360
Puzzle · Often paired
Collections6 collections
Platform libraries
- Famicom Disk System gamesGames
- Game Boy gamesList of games
- Multiplayer Game Boy gamesTwo-player games via the Game Link Cable › Puzzle
Publishers
Genres
- Puzzle gamesSingle character control
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.