You wouldn't try to tear everything around you down in life, so why do it in a computer game? Well...because it's fun, duh!

That's pretty much the premise behind Boom Blox and its sequel, Bash Party. Following the concept of Stephen Spielberg's first games outing, Bash Party challenges players to hurl blocks with all sorts of properties around the screen to dislodge gems and points. Viral blocks and balls will make others around them disappear, chemical blocks knock together with explosiv ... more >>

You wouldn't try to tear everything around you down in life, so why do it in a computer game? Well...because it's fun, duh!

That's pretty much the premise behind Boom Blox and its sequel, Bash Party. Following the concept of Stephen Spielberg's first games outing, Bash Party challenges players to hurl blocks with all sorts of properties around the screen to dislodge gems and points. Viral blocks and balls will make others around them disappear, chemical blocks knock together with explosive consequences and vanishing blocks...well, they vanish. It's up to you to work out the structure of the blocks and figure out the best way to knock them down, completing different challenges such as slingshotting them around and timing your shots to maximise your points.

A raft of features has been brought in for the sequel, with a heavy emphasis being put on both competitive and co-operative multiplayer. Plenty of crazy new levels have been brought into play for you to test out the team-based play on!

Adding to the communal experience is the option to build your own levels and share them online, as well as getting access to tons of new content thanks to being able to grab levels put up by others.

There's a whole new raft of characters brought into the mix too, and – the best bit – you can now fling them about, too. This all happens against the backdrop of plentiful new worlds to explore, ranging from sub-aquatic wonderlands to the glorious vistas of space.

Think Jenga, but (mostly) backwards. << less