PSBlog Feed: Quirky Puzzler King Oddball Hits PS3 Today

[Commander Fury]

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s King Oddball! The quirky physics puzzler that has charmed gamers on PS4 and Vita is making its way to PS3 today. It comes with a free trial, so you should really check it out!

As the title suggests, King Oddball is a bit weird. It’s a physics-based puzzle game, but not like any you’ve played before. The gameplay is intensely skill based, and executed entirely with a single button. Here’s how it works:

The titular King Oddball swings a rock with his tongue, back and forth, like a pendulum. When you hit X, the rock is released. The rock will carry whatever momentum it had at the exact moment you hit the button, so depending on your timing you’ll get a mighty hurl or a delicate drop.

From then on it’s all about the physics. Will you overshoot the tank? Will you just miss the helicopter? Your timing needs to be very, very good. And that only takes you through the levels where you have a couple of enemies to crush.

When there’s a lot of enemies or structures to destroy, you need to layer in the puzzle part. You will get an extra rock if you squash three or more enemies with a single rock, or if you bounce the rock back to your head. Neither of which are very easy feats, as the rock will blast off from anything that explodes. And bouncing the rock from chopper to tank to soldier is exactly what you need to achieve to make the numbers add up.

We feel we managed to combine the skill puzzle and brain puzzle parts amazingly well with King Oddball. Many gamers agree, according to the feedback we’ve had about the game — its addictive qualities, eccentric art style, awesome accordion soundtrack and whatnot. If you’re even vaguely into these types of games, or want to see if there can be any depth to a single button gameplay mechanic, give King Oddball a go.

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