When it comes down to it, World of Goo, like Portal and many great puzzle games before it, takes one simple concept and riffs on it throughout. Its physics feel constant and real, making the difficulty based on the level design, and not a struggle against a piss-poor simulation. So its progression is the most satisfying kind - a few levels in you’ll struggle to simply make a bridge across a canyon, but just a couple hours later you’ll elegantly be making much larger, more complicated structures with ease.

Also like Portal, it’s host to all aspects of puzzle video game: cognitive leaps (like The Legend of Zelda), managing time and resources (like Lemmings), and even, to my surprise, real-time action. Reactions, even. It’ll keep you on your toes and always excited to see what the next stage will bring. The best video games are the ones that are about the unknown, and the ones that play with your expectations.

What I found most impressive about World of Goo, though, was its story. In the first few worlds, the plot is kind of scattershot, but once world four begins “everything changes” (according to the game - not a spoiler). It’s reminiscent of Rez in that way, and it’s even thematically similar, somewhat. But it’s way more coherent, but still far from obvious, and with much more to read into. It is video game storytelling done right: while you play, through the gameplay, and with minimal cut scene and text. There’s no shitty writing or voice acting to get past, and it actually has depth. It has things to say. It’s like if Braid was actually something instead of just trying to be something. And most games aren’t even trying. It’s even funny, but I think we’ve all had enough of the “tighten up the graphics on level three” geek in-jokes at this point.

So if you’re like me, and you love video games but are too often frustrated by them, World of Goo should be near the top of your list of games from this year to check out. It’s not a game that’s enjoyable despite its terrible, terrible flaws, it is actually great. It’s one to feel good about.