Innovation in games that are made today is not always easy to implement, the argument can be made that many ideas that try to be new and cutting edge have already been used in one form or another or that gamers will prefer a traditional approach to a game and would rather not hear about innovative ideas. The Nintendo Wii proved that innovation in games via a new control scheme could work and be successful in today’s market. There is also a reason why I mentioned the Wii, besides proving a point about innovation.  The game I’m about to talk about is actually receiving a port to the console, but that’s another story.

The Blob, as this game is called, is an innovative and different type of game.  It draws upon the inspiration of Katamari Damacy, where you control an alien blob which has crash landed on a mysterious planet.  Your goal is to paint certain landmarks in the town, all the while avoiding the evil agents hoping to stop this alien blob.  This particular blob has other ideas, however, and through his movement around the town can use the NPC inhabitants to paint the town and reign colourful havoc all over the place. From cars, to the different buildings, almost everything can be painted in the town. The concept may seem simple, but the game is actually quite a bit of fun once you put some time into it. The game is not that long but provides a different gaming experience that you may not be accustomed to playing.

The main goal of the game is to paint different landmarks in the town.  However, each landmark has a particular colour that it will have to be painted with before you can paint the whole painting.  It is not as straightforward as it first appears, as some of the landmarks you will encounter in the beginning of the game consist of jumps, tight ledges and more. Also hidden throughout the level are fifty coins that you can collect for a special surprise should you find them all.

You control your blob with the mouse button and you can make your blob jump with the left mouse button.  If you need to refer to your map, you press the right mouse button, and that is all the controls you need to remember. The game’s physics is quite impressive as you are moving the blob around. Your blob moves as you would expect a blob to move, quite rough and not in a straight path always. By moving the mouse slowly, you cause the blob to move slowly, and moving the mouse fast speeds up the blob. The movement and overall control of the blob is impressive to view in action, and what’s even more impressive to learn is that it may seem that there is advanced physics at play in the game. In reality, it is the presentation of the game of the blobs movement that is making you believe there is some sort of physics being used.

While there is really not much of a story to speak of, there is still a fairly sized world that the blob has to explore. Navigating from one area to the next does not take a long time to do, and each area presents its own unique set of challenges, from painting a landmark, to difficult and cunning ways of collecting coins. There is only one area to explore in the game, even once you have painted all the landmarks, but nevertheless the world itself is not small by any means necessary.

As you are moving your blob around, you will notice the nicely composed music and sound effects. From the simple ‘blop’ sounds that your blop is making, to when it runs over an NPC, to jumping in the water.  All sounds are present and accounted for. The music as well is quite nice to listen to and does not distract from the overall experience.

It took a team of nine people from Utrecht School of the Arts and Utrecht University to work on this game, and while the game itself is not that long to play, it's just an enjoyable experience all around for any gamer to see in action. If you might be a tad skeptical about the concept of the game, I definitely suggest you try it first, because this game is quite fun. You will be pulled towards its unique charm and time will fly by for a little while as you try your hand at the challenges. The Blob, is a really amazing game that started out as a sort of tech demo, and evolved to the product you see here and will soon be a title on the Nintendo Wii. So check it out and see what you think.