Despite the name, WoG is a rich and colorful game oozing with personality. The gameplay is smooth and easy to learn, the graphics are wonderful, and the music is pleasing to the ears. The best part is that each level only takes a handful of minutes to complete, so even gamers with a limited time table can enjoy this one to its fullest.

At its core, Goo is a puzzle game with a physics engine. Objects move, bounce, sway, bend, break, etc. like you’d expect them to if you were to encounter them in real life. Although to be fair, I’ve never encountered a living ball of goo before, so the game only borrows aspects from reality and then redefines them to create something fun. Anyhow, the typical goal of the game is to get as many gooballs as you can from point A to point B. To do so, you must chain them together to build tower-type constructs in order to reach an oil pipe. The catch is that you only have x amount to manipulate and you need a certain amount leftover by the time you reach the finish. This may sound complicated (and strange), but it all makes sense once the game gets going - one click, drag, and release at a time.

I should point out that the story is very weird in a charming, quirky sort of way. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, so don’t rack your brain trying to figure out what’s going on - I’ve come to the conclusion that the developers didn’t have any idea either. But it doesn’t really matter, because it’s all about beating the increasingly challenging levels anyway.

Wake up slackers!

Throughout the experience, both the graphics and sound have really grown on me. The backdrops have that colorful made-with-flash look that stand out and arrest your eyes. Then there’s the little gooballs, who move about seemlessly, blinking their huge adorable eyes, and letting out squeaks of joy (or pain) after being manhandled by the cursor. Meanwhile, atmospheric melodies complement the visual feast. In particular, the background music for each world map have an almost ominous tone, but they all sound so wonderful that I would find myself humming along for a few minutes before starting any given level.

Overall a solid package. If you like puzzles or physics and your game time is limited, World of Goo is definitely worth the small price of admission.