Game Reviews

Noby Noby Boy

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Noby Noby Boy
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| Noby Noby Boy

Have you ever joined a conversation between two good friends sharing memories and inside jokes? That's Noby Noby Boy.

Playing this bizarre game-slash-digital toy makes you feel awkward, as though you're supposed to be laughing at a joke you just don't understand. It's even less funny when fully explained, revealing itself to be a nonsensical, almost pointless experience.

Noby Noby Boy isn't a game in the traditional sense, but it does feature a number of interactive features that distinguish it from a productivity app.

You're able to tinker with various geometric trinkets and stretch the worm-like boy with your fingers, even toy with a personified jukebox that plays tunes pulled from your iPod library.

There's the ability to split your boy in half so his segments can be used as the arms of a clock. An embedded web browser lets you store favourite pages according to the colours of the rainbow. Integration with Google Maps allows you to stretch your green-hued boy by physically walking from one point to another.

Get it?

It's all very cute, yet this point remains unclear: where's the fun?

Feeding a Noby Noby Girl red hearts brings connected play into the mix, though it falls far short of compelling. The process of munching hearts appears haphazard at best, which in turn provides little motivation to aim for online high scores.

The ability to take snapshots of funny scenes with an in-game camera and then send them via e-mail is perhaps the most striking feature.

Use of the camera on iPhone handsets adds further dimension. However, it's a feature that encapsulates how much Noby Noby Boy plays more like a social networking app than true game.

Yet, as a cutesy social app Noby Noby Boy is too nonsensical to be fun.

Noby Noby Boy

A bizarre, often pointless app that offers many features, but few moments of fun
Score
Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.