Square Boy

Even the simplest platformer can pose quite the challenge if it’s designed right, and that’s the reason most players prefer the genre. Having to perform tricky stunts in order to get to the end of each level is always quite the adventure, especially if the gameplay is responsive and enjoyable. A bit of variety is needed to keep the public engaged, so it’s a good idea to include multiple environments, or at least introduce different situations along the way.

Square Boy is a 2D platformer in which the only goal is to jump over gaps, avoid traps and somehow make it to the end of each stage as quickly as possible. You play the role of a blue character with no background story, who must reunite with his pink partner and overcome every obstacle along the way. Thankfully, you do not need to worry about plot development or anything of the sort.

The gameplay is kept as simple as possible too, which means that your only concern is to jump, with no other special abilities or mechanics to diversify the experience. This can obviously have a negative impact after a while, since it gets rather boring and repetitive to do the same thing over and over again. The environments evolve, on the other hand, so it’s not all bad.

Hence, many other obstacles make an appearance as you manage to advance, such as moving platforms, spike wheels, and a few other contraptions. Thankfully, the controls are snappy and responsive, so you do not have to worry about them as well when you are planning your jumps. On the other hand, you can only move and jump, so it’s difficult to imagine how would the developers mess that up.

Lastly, the graphics are nothing to write home about, since they are as basic as possible when it comes to textures and special effects. The 2D levels are nothing too special either, especially because the backgrounds rarely change, which is a bit of a bother. The soundtrack gets annoying in record time, but then again this issue can be fixed with ease.

In the end, Square Boy is obviously not the kind of game you come back to every now and again to enjoy it multiple times, but it’s fun enough for one playthrough. Moreover, at least it features functional gameplay mechanics and responsive controls.