This is the most minimalistic a game can get, but that's a style that usually fit puzzle games like this, and BOXBOY is no exception. It's fun how every world, no matter how late into the game, introduces a new mechanic to keep the game original until the very end, though a few extra harder worlds that made use of every mechanic would've been nice to see. I beat the game in 1-player mode, though I also beat around half of the 2-player campaign and it's also a good game to play locally with a friend.

After playing and loving the BoxBoy trilogy on 3DS years ago, I was incredibly hype when a Switch entry in the series was announced a couple years back. I bought it at once, and then immediately set it down for later. Under the impression that the entire game was co-op, I was waiting for someone to play it with to have a better time with it, and my partner visiting over spring break, it felt like the perfect time to finally get to it. It took us a bit over 7 hours to 100% the 3 stories the game has playing in English on real hardware.

Like the other BoxBoy games, BoxBoy + BoxGirl! is a story of the titular characters saving their world from an invasion of shadowy, erm, shadow blob things intent on ruining things on their cube-shaped planet. It’s all told with only gestures and looks, no words, making it great for players of any reading ability, although the puzzles are hard enough that I imagine young children would likely get a bit too frustrated trying to play the game the whole way through on their own. It’s a fun, serviceable story that does a great job of making the characters appeaing and facilitating the gameplay we’re really here for.

And that gameplay is BoxBoy at his boxy-est! With a limited number of blocks to use per stage if you want to hit the objective markers (or an infinite number if you just don’t care), BoxBoy and his friends try to go from point A to point B in each of these puzzle-platformer levels by extending blocks out from his body to make paths and get him places. Only one of the game’s three stories is actually co-op, sadly, but my partner and I solved this by just swapping off the controller level-by-level for the two single-player stories. And there’s a lot here! Well over 100 puzzles populate BoxBoy’s Switch outing, and coupled with a handful of new powers he can learn as well (not to mention tons of silly costumes to wear), they’re an absolute delight to go through.

The presentation is simple but very good in the way that the BoxBoy series has led us to expect. Very simple designs for our quadrangular heroes are nonetheless very appealing, and the same goes for the simple, monochromatic levels you explore. The music is also very fun, though not quite as memorable as HAL Labs often does for their Kirby game’s I’d say.

Verdict: Highly Recommended. If you’re a fan of puzzle platformers and you’ve got a Switch, this is absolutely not a game to miss out on. Even the 2-player levels can be played single-player, so while they’re absolutely better with a buddy, you don’t even need friends to enjoy all the boxy goodness. The masters at HAL have done it again, and I just hope that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of BoxBoy, or at the very least, I hope they keep it up with smaller, puzzle-focused games like this. They’ve made their prowess at designing puzzle games very clear, so whether it’s BoxBoy or something entirely different, my only compliant is that there just isn’t enough of it! X3

A great puzzle game with an overwhelming amount of levels. It starts off ridiculously easy and gradually ramps up, some of the later levels being very challenging, especially if you're going for the minimum boxes objective and grabbing the collectible crowns.

As a fan of the series, this starts off feeling like more of the same, but there's lots of creative ideas, and the addition of Long Boi keeps things interesting. With three separate modes, each with their own unique levels, there's enough to keep you occupied here for a while. Well worth the money.

One of my favourite puzzle games ever. I haven't played any of the other games so everything here was completely new to me.

My only gripe is the lack of background/music variety.

89