Breaking Out: Wizorb Bounces Onto Steam

Breakout games with a plot and monsters should appear more frequently, as should pinball games of the same sort. Wizorb is a neat take on That Sort Of Thing, with world that needs to be rebuilt by the player's bearded wizard. He collects the money to do this by juggling balls with his wand, bashing bricks and beasties alike. There are spells that help with destruction and ball control, as well as a gentle dose of the funnies. It isn't new but it is new to Steam and I revisited it just now and was reminded how much fun it is.

Genre mash-ups of this sort often make me smile and Wizorb is no exception. It's a well-worked combination of elements, with a tightness of control, a recognisable style of interaction, and a lighter sprinkling of the sort of skill, character and narrative advancement that can make Puzzle Quest so hard to turn away from. I prefer Arkanoid to Bejewelled so despite having less packed in, Wizorb is my preferred squeeze.

I heretically played it on XBLA back in the day and can confirm that I much prefer playing it with a mouse due to precision of control and the comfort of not being yelled at for playing a game with NESlike graphics on the TV which should obviously only be used to watch people cooking in HD.

Wizorb scores seven Masterchefs out of five. It's been out a while but is just now available on Steam for the tiny price of £1.79 until March 21st. After that it will cost a gargantuan, bank-bothering £1.99.

Brick-busting pleasantries are also available direct from Tribute Games, on Desura and on Gamersgate. Some of those links will also help if you're Mac or Linux inclined, but why not look on the App Store or Gameolith as well?