World of Goo 2

I don't think I've ever been so blind-sided by a game announcement in my life. I've been surprised by the short time between Xenoblade releases on Switch; I've been hyped for Ace Attorney games finally getting an English localization; this, however, is the first time a formative game from my childhood got a surprise sequel nearly 16 years after the fact. Before I bought it two or three more times on other platforms, the original World of Goo was gifted to me by my aunt via a CD-RW she put together herself. I was a bit too young and inexperienced to recognize the dubious origin of that Sharpie-labeled disc at the time, but I wasn't too young to pop it in our family PC and stack some goo. Thus, my lifelong appreciation of tiny sentient goo balls began, and I'm thrilled that I was finally able to bear witness to their triumphant return!

World of Goo 2 was immediately familiar and nostalgic. From the 2D Boy splash screen to the goo world itself being used as a menu, it felt like rediscovering a forgotten favorite song, or returning to your childhood Summer camp. However, the game was not a carbon copy of its predecessor. While the sequel adopted much of the imagery and functionality of the original, it left an unexpected selection of features behind, and I never knew what was going to make the cut. The resulting mixture of old and new is exactly the game that I was hoping for.

Despite my initial excitement, I was a anxious World of Goo 2 might be too different for my tastes. The announcement trailer was jam-packed with so many unfamiliar features that I was honestly a little overwhelmed. Those anxious thoughts were for naught, though. 2D Boy and Tomorrow Corporation know just how to introduce new content as to make it exciting, rather than confusing. As I advanced in the levels, I felt like I was figuring out the new types of goo balls, the cannons, the large slimy masses, and everything else without issue. That's a great feeling that not every game does a good job of capturing. I was even getting good enough to complete some of the Optional Completion Distinction (OCD) challenges on my first run through a level! I was only disappointed that my extra goo balls no longer served a functional purpose, however frivolous, as the World of Goo Corporation's endless building site didn't make the jump to the sequel. Thankfully, World of Goo 2 does hold a secret that, in my opinion, makes up for any complaints I might have had. 
 
I won't spoil the best part of the game, but I do wish I could. The direction in World of Goo 2, like the original, is phenomenal. The story is cynical and clever, and the gameplay perfectly complements it. The section of the game I'm currently dancing around was so unexpected, but every bit of it that I experienced left me wanting more. After The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe surprised me with... well, you'll know if you played it, I foolishly wasn't expecting to be just as surprised by a game so soon thereafter, but here we are. As I said, World of Goo 2 knows when and how to introduce new content so that it is received well by the player, and this is probably the best example of that.

The teams over at 2D Boy and Tomorrow Corporation are experts at creating unique and eerie puzzle-type experiences, and I feel like World of Goo 2 is the perfect culmination of that expertise. It's not too long, but it has plenty of room for you to stick around if you want to "git gud," while still having options for those who struggle with even the base difficulty. The whole game, from the visuals to the music to the gameplay, draw on the nostalgia I have for the first game, but they do more than enough of their own to make this feel like a true sequel. I would recommend consuming the two World of Goo titles as a package deal, and with how small and digestible they are, you could probably even tackle them one right after the other. 
The game is available for Steam here (as of 1/5/26): https://store.steampowered.com/app/3385670/World_of_Goo_2/
The game is available for Switch and Switch 2 here (as of 1/5/26): https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/world-of-goo-2-switch/
The game is available for PS5 here (as of 1/5/26): https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10012774
The game is available for iOS here (as of 1/5/26): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/world-of-goo-2/id6503088710
The game is available for Android here (as of 1/5/26): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twodboy.wog2

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