Use Boxmen
In Greg Sergeant's aptly titled puzzle platformer, Use Boxmen, you, believe it or not, use boxmen to collect boxes.
It sounds fairly simple and straightforward, but it's not, really. You are a little blue boxman. Correction, you are a "strange, superior figure" that controls the cheerful looking little blue boxman in his quest to collect the spinning box at the end of every level. Why? Because the narrator told you to, that's why. Sounds easy enough, sure, but now let's throw in some spikes, switches, traps, big giant black tooth looking things that can kill you with a tiny touch, and some death defying leaps and all of a sudden what seemed simple just got a whole lot tougher.
As in many platformers, you use the [arrow] keys to run, duck, and jump, but you find out very quickly that this is far from adequate to negotiate the puzzles that keep you from your coveted boxes. You need help. Thankfully if you press the [shift] key, you can summon a happy orange boxman to aid you in your quest (the number you can summon changes from one level to the next). These little guys can be quite industrious, but they aren't the world's best thinkers. They will do whatever it is you are doing when you summon them. If you're standing still, they'll stand still, if you're jumping, they'll jump, etc. Oh, and they are very much expendable, just like you.
Now you have all the tools you will need , but you'll still need that big gray thinking thingie upstairs if you hope to collect the boxes and figure out what the narrator is up to (besides making an incredibly popular internet game, of course). As you move from one level to the next you'll have to come up with increasingly creative uses for your boxmen from making them power generators to using them to "see" invisible platforms. Put your fingers and your noodle to the test and maybe, just maybe, you'll figure out what all those boxes are for, and maybe what's up with that narrator guy as well.
Analysis: Use Boxmen exudes charm the way an ink soaked sponge exudes ink, especially if you push down on it really hard. From the music that sounds like wind chimes made in a happiness factory, to the way the little orange boxmen run with their arms waving behind them like two thin wisps of old man hair, Use Boxmen feels like a really tough platform puzzler was hugged by a kindergartener on a sugar high. Even the boxes you collect at the end of each level explode into a burst of celebratory confetti.
But don't be fooled, this game is NOT easy (this is the same guy who made Death Dice Overdose after all). Behind the pastel blue skies and overly huggable characters lies a game that is devious as both a platformer and a puzzler.
As a puzzler, the challenge stems from first discovering completely how the orange boxmen work. They do what you are doing when you make them, but different situations will have different results. Crouching, for instance, works differently for your main blue boxman compared to the orange guys. Once you've figured the ins and outs of the orange boxmen, the challenge shifts to visualizing all of the actions required for each level. You have to take into account every set of spikes, every switch, every jump, and every platform, and you have to decide which paths you'll force your clones to take, and which one you'll take yourself. Thus, solving puzzles requires a balance of predicting future behavior and engaging in trial and error in real time. This combination provides a rather unique and satisfying experience.
Solving puzzles is only half the battle here as Use Boxmen takes its platforming element very seriously. You will quite often find yourself making hairpin precision jumps and dashing back and forth through levels with barely a pixel's width of clearance between you and certain death. As a result, just because you know how to solve a level doesn't guarantee you a thing, you still have to actually act it out. Thankfully the controls here are as smooth as dark chocolate layered in silk on a bed of chinchilla fur. There is just the tiniest little bit of slippage in controlling your blue boxman, but this is not so much to a fault as it is a natural expression of momentum. Also, the platforming element may feel a little too unforgiving, but the game is consistent to the pixel with its precision.
The only way such a beautiful balance between puzzling and platforming could be pulled off is in level design, and generally the level design is brilliant. Each board taunts you with multiple possibilities, throwing all sorts of stuff your way like a kind of smoke screen in order to tease you away from the true solution (protip: It's always a good idea to look at how many boxmen you can create in a level. This might give you an idea as to your possibilities). My one qualm is that the levels don't really open themselves up to multiple solutions. This isn't necessary, but having more than one solution per level would give players a marvelous opportunity to explore the copycat mechanic at work here to its fullest potential.
Unfortunately, Use Boxman isn't that long, and the learning curve, while gradual, is a little steep. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially for gamers with a certain level of patience and a skill set that matches the game's challenges, but it does mean that this game may not be accessible to all comers. You can't have too much of a good thing, and Use Boxman would have been well served by having a lot more levels with a kinder learning curve to go along with them.
Cute, clever, and unique, Use Boxman manages to appeal to both the child and the obsessive gamer in us. And yeah, maybe it makes me want to run stupidly down the street with my arms waving behind me like a buffoon while wearing a silly grin on my face.
Thanks for suggesting this, David, Arikiko, Calvin, and Sijapu17. Cheers!
Walkthrough Guide
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Use Boxmen Walkthrough
Types of Boxmen
Standing Boxman
Stand still and press Shift. This Boxman stands still. When another Boxman runs into it, the other Boxman will turn around and run the other way.
Crouching Boxman
Crouch and press Shift. This Boxman sits in a crouched position. When a Running Boxman runs into it, the Running Boxman will jump.
Running Boxman
Create a Boxman while running. Running Boxmen will run aimlessly until they hit a wall, a Standing Boxman, or fall off a cliff. If two Running Boxmen meet, one destroys the other.
Jumping Boxman
Create a Boxman while jumping. Jumping Boxmen will jump in the direction you make them, and when they hit the ground they become Running Boxmen. Jumping Boxmen can use Crouching Boxmen even before they hit the ground.
Level 1
A very basic level. Run to the right and don't forget to jump to make it to the platform with the box (which is the goal).
Level 2
This level is the first level to make use of the game's namesake--the Boxmen. Stand still on the switch and press shift without moving left or right to make a Standing Boxman. He should hold down the switch, allowing you to run past the spikes and reach the goal.
Level 3
Boxmen can collect the box at the end of the level as well. Run out to the end of the ledge and jump as far as you can, and when you begin to reach the bottom, press shift to make a Jumping Boxman. If your timing is good, the Jumping Boxman will make it to the platform and then collect the box.
Level 4
This level introduces the lever. Stand near the spike wall and then begin running towards the lever and press shift to create a Running Boxman. The Running Boxman will move the lever, allowing you to pass through the spikes to your left and collect the goal.
Level 5
Drop down to the nook that the lever is in. Stand on the far left and create a Standing Boxman, and then create a Running Boxman to the right. Whenever a Running Boxman runs into a Standing Boxman, the Running Boxman will turn around and run the other way as if he has hit a wall.
The Running Boxman should trip the lever back and forth as he passes. Jump up to the platform with the spike wall and the goal, wait for the Running Boxman to trip the lever, and then run through the spike wall before the Running Boxman turns it back on.
Level 6
Create a Standing Boxman just to the right of the power generator, and then create a Running Boxman to the left of the Standing Boxman, causing the Running Boxman to run back and forth, powering the generator. Then quickly hop onto the platform with the lightning bolt on it and ride it up until you can leap out to reach the goal.
Level 7
Go to the right side of the platform you start on, hold down to crouch, and then press shift to make a Crouching Boxman. Then, from the far left of the ledge, create a Running Boxman moving towards the right. When the Running Boxman reaches the Crouching Boxman, he will leapfrog over the Crouching one, placing him on the platform with the lever.
After creating the Running Boxman, quickly drop down and run through the are underneath you in order to reach the goal before the Running Boxman has a chance to turn the spikes back on.
Level 8
Hold right in order to drop down through the spikes and press shift to create a Jumping Boxman just as you have passed by the open area near the bottom of the stage. If you time it right, the Jumping Boxman should make it past the spikes and collect the box.
Level 9
This level is invisible, but you can create Boxmen to show you where the edges of platforms lie. In general, you will start by going right, climbing up a stair-like platform, then go to the left, climb up another platform, and then finally to the right towards the goal. Make sure to create Running and Jumping Boxmen to show you where walkable ground is, and if they fall, that is an area in which you will fall.
There also seems to be a set of invisible spikes towards the top right of the screen, so be careful to avoid those by sending Boxmen in front of your path.
Level 10
Set up three Crouching Boxmen according to this screenshot. Then, from where your character is standing in the image, jump up and create a Boxman. Then quickly run through the path below before the spikes get closed ahead of you.
Level 11
Start by placing a Crouching Boxman on the far right of the platform you start on, and then very carefully jump out to each of the columns and place a Crouching Boxman on each. Do not place one on the lightning-bolt platform. You should have 1 Boxman left when you are done.
Before creating the Boxman that will be running out to get the box, jump off the ledge to the left, towards the power generator, and turn right and press shift in midair on the way down to create a Boxman. You will then have a few seconds to make the platform rise.
This can be tricky, and seems to be inconsistent. My best advice would be to avoid tapping left and right in front of the generator as much as possible and instead run from one prong on the generator to the other (without ever getting far enough away from the generator for it to stop working). It seems that running in this manner causes the platform to move faster than if you are tapping back and forth. Regardless, it is difficult to get the platform up in time, and if you fail at first, keep trying until you succeed. The strategy will work if you can power the generator fast enough.
Level 12
This level is a test of skill and reflexes, but isn't difficult once you know the pattern.
Start by making a Running boxman to the right. When he trips the switch, quickly run to the left and stand on the button. Do not leave the button yet. The boxman will now power a generator on the right. When the lightning bolt on the moving platform passes by the tree, get off the button.
The boxman should get onto the platform and end up in the area on the right. As soon as the platform is within reach, drop down and quickly jump up to press the button overhead to allow the boxman to continue, and then land on the platform with the tree.
When the spikes open up to your left, quickly drop down and press the button. Be careful not to touch the monster.
After pressing the button, the boxman will throw a switch allowing you to drop down and finish the level.
Level 13
Start by tapping the left key so that you can turn left without moving much. Then jump up, press shift to create a Jumping boxman to the left, and then quickly press right and create a jumping boxman to the right in the same jump. If you press shift twice but only one boxman is created, you are pressing it too quickly.
If your timing was true, the two boxmen will hit the dotted switches at the same time, unlocking the doors around you. One of the Running boxmen will kill the other.
Jump up to the left and then position four Standing boxmen on the platforms at the top according to this screenshot. Then stand on the just to the left of the Standing boxman on the right of the platform on the right. When the Running boxman underneath you is standing about as far away from the button as he is in this screenshot, create a Running boxman to your left.
Next, jump over to the platform on the left and stand just to the right of the boxman on the left. Watch the Running boxman on the platform on the right, and just as he collides with the Standing boxman on the right of the platform on the right, create a Running boxman going towards the right.
Now, jump down to the corridor at the bottom of the level. Do not start going through as soon as the first two monsters are turned off, but rather wait until the Running boxman in the middle of the screen is about to hit the button that deactivates the big monster in the middle. When that monster disappears, quickly run through the first two monsters, which, if the boxmen are properly placed, should also have disappeared, and then wait in front of the monster in the middle until the two monsters on the left disappear. Then run through to the goal.
If the monsters are not disappearing in such a way that you can run through them, there is something out of sync with your setup. Check to ensure you placed the six boxmen at the top of the screen according to the walkthrough.
Level 14
There's no trick to this level. Simply jump along the platforms and enter the house on the right. Congrats! You've just beaten the game!
Posted by: Griff
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June 21, 2009 9:14 PM