Some times, it’s not about winning the game, its how you play. Craftimals: Build to the Sun embodies that message in an adorable little package. This cutesy creation from developer Roppy Chop combines reaching new heights with artistic expression in an easy to play casual game. Weather you’re playing alone or with a friend There is a 2 player option), you’ll enjoy helping the cute square animals of Craftimals reach for the sun.
The surface objective of Crafimals is to build a tower using your animal friend and multi-colored blocks so they can hop up into the clouds. You’ll quickly forget your ultimate goal, however, when you discover the true meaning of this game. The real fun is in building your tower, not necessarily making it taller, but building a tower that is all your own. The game is free form and you can place blocks anywhere you can reach (physics do not play a role in Craftimals what so ever so don’t worry about balancing your structure or making it realistic in any way), including hanging in the air like something out of a Mario game. This, combined with the multiple colors of blocks to choose from, prompts you to use your building materials not only to get higher into the sky, but to draw your own images through it.
The Craftimals characters look as if one of the creatures from Boom Blocks mated with Hello Kitty, which sounds gross but is actually pretty freakin’ cute. All of the creatures that inhabit the world of Craftimals are plump and square to reflect the materials you use to send them skyward. The fauna you have to choose from ranges from a chubby cheeked raccoon to a jolly bear, all infused with the charm of a Japanese children’s cartoon. The background is simple, serving as a blank blue canvas for your tower creations. Though the cuteness has been previously inserted into the ascetic, the majority of the scenery is up to the player. As you build your tower higher and higher, you’ll pass check points to increase your color pallet, allowing you to create almost any vivid image you want in the sky. If you take some time, you can build a pretty crazy looking tower (in my case, a tower in the shape of a birthday cake).
At the ground level, your animal pal can grab your building blocks from wheelbarrows on each side of the screen. At the beginning, you can only carry a small amount of blocks but as you progress through the sky, you’ll pass checkered check points that can increase the number of blocks you can take with you (as well as unlock new block colors and hats you can put on you animal avatar). Even though the number you can carry is increased over time, you will eventually have to jump off your tower and return to Earth for more blocks. This can actually be pretty annoying, especially once you start getting really high into the sky. The trip down isn’t bad since your fuzzy companion has a parachute (don’t worry about jumping down, your square pig will land safely) which is quick and adorable. The way back up, however, can really pull you out of the game experience. Hopping all the way back up your tower can be very frustrating and take quite a while depending on how you build up your blocks. In a game that in centered around allowing the player to create their own environment, this feature can be stifling.
Craftimals is worth the 80 Microsoft points Xbox Live charges for it but I’d be willing to pay twice as much to play this on my smart phone. In the Xbox library, this little game can easily get lost in the shuffle but I could definitely see myself building up my tower 10 minutes at a time during breaks in the day. The concept is simple and fun and the controls could easily translate to a touch screen, making it perfect for a smart phone or tablet.