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To appeal to a wide audience, it’s all too common for game developers / marketers to attach the term, ‘casual’ to their product. This supposedly indicates to the lesser intelligent of us that the game in question is all of a sudden accessible and appealing to your grandmother. While casual gaming seems to be the money-maker of this generation, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an indication of quality. There are some superb ‘casual’ games out there, both with financial strength and mind-blowing addictive gameplay, but for every Bejewelled, there are ten failures accompanying. With this firmly in mind, excuse us if we’re slightly sceptical about another ‘casual’ game on our doorstep.

We’ve been given the chance to preview Southpeak Games’ Roogoo, which is due out on PC and Xbox Live Arcade June 20th. Developed by SpiderMonk Entertainment, Roogoo is a 3D puzzle game that’s akin to a children’s education toy where’d you place shapes through the right holes. Obviously it’s been fleshed out, given a wave of the ‘addictive-wand’ and computerised, but that’s the closest thing that Roogoo can be compared to without actually showing you it in action.

The game gives you control of rotatable disks which have various coloured, shaped holes. Each level has a certain amount of levels, and a selection of shapes to keep under control. If we’re being exact then the shapes are supposedly meteors which are falling, endangering the Roogoo race. There’s supposedly a story within the game’s shell, but we’re doubtful anyone will notice, let alone care. As you progress through the game’s 45 increasingly difficult levels, you’ll be charged with controlling more layers, as well as meteors. Periodically there will be obstacles you’ll need to avoid as well as irritating enemies. Speed will increase, as with the requirement of multi-tasked thinking. Towards the end, you’ll really need to concentrate, but we can’t deny that it wasn’t enjoyable.

It is addictive and the cutesy graphics and chirpy sound effects all add to the experience. It emphasises the sense of reward when you complete a puzzle partially, or to full effect.  Each level takes place at a different location and at different time period, (for example night, dusk, daytime.) You’ll progress through the game at a steady pace and it’ll be worthy of your effort. There’s two player split screen on offer, as well as party game modes. Extra challenges and stages add some flexibility, but otherwise it’s a simple linear affair. Then again, this is the puzzle genre that we’re talking about.

It’s still a while until release but at the moment Roogoo seems worthy of your Microsoft points, or your hard earned cash. Expect a review once it’s done.

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