Bulb Boy (2015)

Bulb Boy is a horror puzzle game developed by Bulbware, an independent studio based in Poland. The game follows the adventures of a young boy named Bulb Boy, who wakes up from a nightmare to find that his house has been invaded by monsters. As he sets out to explore his home and save his family, Bulb Boy must solve a variety of puzzles and battle a range of creepy creatures.

One of the unique features of Bulb Boy is its art style, which is heavily influenced by classic horror movies and cartoons. The game features hand-drawn graphics and a color palette that is deliberately dark and moody, creating a spooky atmosphere that is both charming and unsettling.

The gameplay involves exploring various environments and interacting with objects by pointing and clicking on them. The puzzles in the game typically require the player to use items found in the environment in order to progress through the story. The game also features a simple combat system where players must use Bulb Boy's abilities to defeat enemies. By simple I mean that it doesn't really require a lot of reflex from the player, because combat encounters are still based largely on puzzle-solving. They are not overly complex, but do require some strategy and quick thinking to defeat the various enemies encountered throughout the game.

One example of a combat situation in the game is when Bulb Boy must defeat a spider-like creature that is blocking his path. The creature attacks Bulb Boy by launching sticky webs at him, which can immobilize him if they hit him. To defeat the creature, players must use Bulb Boy's unique abilities, such as his electrical powers and his ability to detach his head and roll around as a separate entity.

In this particular situation, players must detach Bulb Boy's head and guide it to a nearby light bulb, which charges it up with electricity. They must then roll Bulb Boy's head towards the spider, which causes it to become electrified and stunned. Players can then switch back to Bulb Boy's body and attack the spider with a powerful electrical blast, defeating it and allowing them to progress to the next area.

The game is relatively short, clocking in at 3.5hrs max. That's roughly how long it took me to complete it and I am not particularly proficient in point & click adventure games. For people who prefer shorter gaming experiences and love puzzling adventures this will be a treat, as long as they can embrace the unique looks. The only other thing I slightly disliked is the repetitiveness of some puzzles, but all in all this was a visually satisfactory & mentally stimulating experience for less than £6. Having a game of such quality, especially in art style and at this price point, it would be wrong not to support it.

Bulb Boy is a surreal-horror point-n-click adventure/puzzle game and I'm not going to enjoy writing this review since the game itself is very difficult to describe. It's really good though.

You play the character of a little boy whose head is a detachable light bulb. You live in a little old house with your deformed dog and senile grandfather. In the middle of the night, a dark presence appears from the sky and possesses your grandfather, turning him into a horrible mutated blob monster, and having various supernatural effects on things in the house (including your plush rabbit, a roast chicken, a strawberry plant, a spider and other things). So you set about on your quest to save grandpa and return things back to "normal."

In some ways, Bulb Boy plays more like an interactive experience, a digital sculpture or something. The strengths of this game are in the unique and mind-boggling audio/visual experience; you're constantly surprised and amused by the peculiar things happening on the screen and as such gameplay, story, characters, puzzle difficulty, etc. are less important compared to the atmosphere and the sheer spectacle of the thing. The puzzles are fun and intuitive but very easy, and there are occasional short arcade-type sections.

The entire game is presented as shades of radioactive green, and the animations, character designs and creative ideas presented are beyond compare. This game was reminiscent of something like 9: The Last Resort, it being so completely original and unlike anything else. Many of the scenes (especially the grotesque parts) were reminiscent of Ren & Stimpy but otherwise it's difficult to draw comparisons. Each scene is beautifully hand-crafted and every screenshot of the game could be presented as a strange work of art: you can just stop in each area and gaze upon your screen: it's a delight of the eyes, identifying all the hundreds of peculiar little items and visual gags. I should also mention the sound/music which was equally brilliant, the game has an incredible soundtrack, it sounds so dreamy like shoegaze or Cocteau Twins.

The only thing I would warn is that this game is often extremely gross; the visuals and story often involves guts or poop or intestines and all that good stuff. During multiple sections bulb boy is navigating the bowels of various creatures and all the hairs, bones and other squishy things that reside therein. One puzzle is a kind of "boss fight" against a gigantic turd. It's amazing.

So, it's hard to describe this game but it's quite short (around 2-3 hours) but wonderfully unique and I think everyone needs to see this. Check out my screenshots or play the free demo on Steam.