Boom Blox

Boom Blox is a physics puzzle game born from a collaboration between Electronic Arts and director Steven Spielberg, and it ranks among the smartest uses of a motion controller ever made. The premise is easy to grasp: a structure made of blocks stands on screen, and the player must either smash it apart or, conversely, carefully take it apart safely. In some levels you throw a ball, in others blocks are carefully pulled out of the structure like in a tabletop tower game, the goal being to keep the construction from collapsing. Each level has clearly set point or move limits, so precision decides, not force.

The controls use the Wiimote very directly: winding up and swinging correspond to a throw, a gentle forward-and-back motion pulls a block out, aiming sets the target. Around this the game builds an enormous number of variants, adding an explosive block, a block that vanishes on contact, or an animal that sets its surroundings moving when hit. Alongside an extensive single-player campaign there's also co-op and competitive levels for more people, where one player demolishes and the other tries to keep the structure standing. A strong point is the editor, in which players can build their own levels and share them, extending the game far beyond the main offering.

Visually the game relies on a clean, toy-like styling with bold colors and simple shapes, which is above all functional: the player must be able to tell at a glance which block is dangerous and which is load-bearing. The physics model is convincing and rewards experimentation, since the same level can be solved in several completely different ways. At the time it was one of the best-reviewed games a Western publisher released for Wii, and reviewers often cited it as proof that motion control could support thoughtful design too. Today Boom Blox is a great choice for players of all ages, and age has taken practically nothing away from it. It's one of the few titles that can be recommended equally to a child and to a player looking for a well-thought-out puzzle for long evenings.