Wreckin’ Ball Adventure is not the easiest game to control, but that is sort of the point.

You play as a sentient robot wrecking ball on a bid for freedom from the factory where you were built. You can roll to either side and you can jump. It’s up to you to figure out how to generate speed to leap gaps in the floor, bounce off walls and smash through vulnerable surfaces. Each level requires you to think creatively about how to solve unique puzzles to get around and out to freedom.

It’s an interesting approach to the platformer genre that uses physics in a creative way. You’re encouraged to think about the way that different actions will impact your trajectory. You can practice moving in your spherical form using Playground mode. This is handy, as jumping straight into the sixty level story mode can be a bit of a challenge for anyone who isn’t quick to pick up unusual controls.

For a game called Wreckin’ Ball Adventure, there’s not as much smashing things as you might imagine. You do break down walls and crash through floors, but the main challenge of the game is solving the puzzle presented by each level. The obstacles in your way are not just physical. The fact that you play as something designed purely for destruction, but are made to pause and consider exactly where and how to use this power, actually makes for quite a nice metaphor.

Throughout your escape, you can collect glowing orbs, with stars in more difficult to reach places, to boost your score. This offers a little extra motivation to keep going and to challenge yourself when you’re playing in solo mode.

 

The game supports up to four players at any one time, with a few options for how you want to play. You can escape side by side, working together to cross each platform. Or you can play the endless escape mode to see which of you can last the longest in the labyrinthine factory.

Wreckin’ Ball Adventure is fairly simple in terms of premise. It has a decent amount of variety when it comes to play styles that offer really good value for money given it costs less than $5. The controls are unusual enough to make the game unique, but not so complicated that it puts you off.