Kula World

Kula World, released in North America under the altered name Roll Away, is an imaginative platform puzzle game from 1998 by the Swedish studio Game Design Sweden, in which the player controls a striped, bouncy ball rolling across floating cube platforms scattered freely through a stylized, colorful space. The goal of each level is to collect the required number of keys, gather bonus coins, and reach the exit before the time limit runs out, while the game plays with gravity and perspective — the ball can move across vertical and upside-down surfaces too, forcing the player to constantly reconsider what actually counts as up and what as down.

The level design, split across several themed worlds, gradually introduces increasingly complex puzzles based on spatial reasoning, teleporters, moving platforms, and hazards such as chasms or hostile creatures that must be avoided or neutralized. The game's visual style is distinctly colorful, clean, and playful, with themed worlds ranging from Egyptian pyramids to underwater scenery, accompanied by a light-hearted soundtrack that fits well with the game's generally relaxed, holiday-like atmosphere and its playful visual presentation.

Kula World received a positive, if rather modest, reception on release for its original mechanics, catchy soundtrack, and challenging yet fair level design, though it remained a fairly niche affair compared to the generation's big platforming hits. Today it is valued as one of the most imaginative puzzle platformers on PlayStation, and among genre fans it holds a reputation as an overlooked gem whose unconventional take on gravity was ahead of its time. Its combination of unconventional movement, well-crafted puzzles, and relaxed atmosphere still makes it a title worth discovering, even for players used to more modern platform puzzlers.

Why play: For puzzle platformer fans looking for an overlooked gem with an unconventional take on gravity, a catchy soundtrack, and fair, if challenging, level design.