IndieZero: Use Boxmen

[Right, so here's the deal - we're going to start a regular thing where we rant at you about an indie game that you need to play, either because it's good, interesting, or just looks nice. It won't necessarily be anything that's just been released two nanoseconds ago, nor anything that you won't have already heard of if you move in the appropriate circles. But for those of you who don't, it should be an enjoyable little eye-opener. We'll be including our sources in every post, so you can start doing your own research if you want to. Okay? Good!]

Use Boxmen is a cute little puzzle-platformer by a Mr. Greg Sergeant, that’ll give you pleasant flashbacks of Karoshi or, at its best, Braid. Its deceptively simple premise is that you, playing as Boxman, have to collect a cube in each level, and you can summon other boxmen to aid you in your cause. Trouble is, they’re a bit stupid, and will only copy what you were doing when you summoned them. So, if you’re running to the right as you summon a boxman, he’ll run to the right too, and he’ll keep on running until the end of time, or his life. Whichever comes first.

Where this starts getting clever is in the level design, which calls for all manner of manipulation of the boxmen’s limited abilties, sometimes calling on you to send them to their deaths, or even to commit suicide yourself in order to let the boxmen finish the level for you. It all sounds a bit harrowing, but the presentation of the whole thing is so unbelievably cheerful that you really won’t think anything of it (aside from the occasional morbid cue from the game’s between-level narrator, but even that manages to be pretty funny most of the time).

As well as looking absolutely lovely, Use Boxmen is blessed with that rarity among rarities in videogames – a decent soundtrack. I’ve got it playing in the background now, even though I’m not actually playing the bloody game. Unfortunately it stops abruptly when it gets to the end of its playlist, but you can easily start it up again by hitting the music icon (in the top-right corner) twice. If you don’t start whistling along at some point, you are utterly dead inside.

The game does get a bit difficult in places, but if you’re ever truly stuck, the question-mark icon links you to a video walkthrough of the whole thing. So if you ever decide you’re not having fun any more, you can hit that and be on your merry way to the next level. Which isn’t to say it completely robs you of the satisfaction of doing it yourself, mind you – even once you’ve figured the level out (or seen the walkthrough), some of the solutions are pretty tricky to pull off, albeit rarely to the point of frustration.

Negatives? Um, well, it’s free, and… fun… and clever, and it looks really nice, and… um, no. Nothing. Sorry.

Play it, you goons.

[Found via the IndieGames.com blog. Kisses!]