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| Source // Giant Bomb |
I can't remember where I was when Noby Noby Boy was announced to the world, but I'm sure I said "What?" a few times during the presentation. What is this nonsense? What is going on? What is the point in playing this game?
Is it a game, or is it interactive art? Should I take a punt on it? Something - presumably the cheap price of entry - got me to check out Noby Noby Boy first hand, and you probably do need to try and do that for yourselves, and we're about to see why.
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
Fun Times
This is Boy, and he's a stretchy little fella, quickly turning from a pink dog-like thing to the worlds longest snake at the push of a few analogue sticks.
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
As Boy stretches, which you do by pushing the analogue sticks away from each other, so that your front end on one stick is moving away from the rear end on the other, the game keeps track of his ever increasing length so that it can update Girl on your progress. The more you contribute here on the floor, the longer Girl grows out in space.
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
It's not just you who makes Girl grow, thankfully, else you'll be playing Noby Noby Boy for an awfully long time. Instead, everyone playing this game will be stretching their own Boys however long they can, and uploading that length to the servers so that Girl's global length can be calculated and new worlds unlocked.
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
The first alternate map, full of new creatures to eat and poop out, or give rides to, or tangle yourself up in, was the nearest body to Earth, the Moon. You don't have to get the longest stretch possible in these playgrounds, you just need to keep uploading your stats to the servers so that Girl can grow.
In the meantime then, just tangle yourself up at one end and stretch with the other, seeing what you can interact with, setting yourself challenges to achieve. Can you tie yourself through a doughnut-shaped cloud? You tell me.
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
Frustrations
As you might imagine with a game that gives players rather little to invest their time into, it would take a lot of players a lot of time to stretch long enough to wrap around the solar system. Space is pretty darn big, after all.
Because of that, and perhaps a dwindling player count, 'Lucky Weeks' were held on occasion where Boy's length would be multiplied before being sent to Girl. At first, it was just a little, but the next event would multiply it by hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands or more, all in an effort to get Girl home on some sort of human timescale.
It would take 6 years for her to get there, but as of very late 2015, all the planets of the solar system have been circled by Girl and unlocked for playing on. If you jump into it now, everything will be ready for you to explore, and your stretching will serve only one purpose - your entertainment. I think there are trophies related to eating a certain figure (if you can find them) or giving people rides on your back, but I might be making those up for the sake of having something to do in Noby Noby Boy.
Final Word
That's the main problem with Noby Noby Boy in 2021. It never had much of a point before, but now it surely is pointless, no? You're only playing it to see what it played like when playing it mattered, which makes it a kind of weird museum piece.
I can't recall at what point I abandoned Noby Noby Boy, but I did abandon it. It was the kind of entertainment that I know I spent a little time with to give it a go, and a little more time with to do my part to help Girl grow. Beyond that, why should I bother? What was compelling me to stay?
I'm pretty sure I was around for the Moon to be unlocked, but Wikipedia tells me that was done within days of release, so that's not saying much. Was I around for Mars a few months later? Jupiter by the end of the year? I doubt it. It's an awfully repetitive game, even if you're multiplying your length by hundreds of thousands to make it go by quicker. Sticking around in a game as bonkers as this generally isn't for me, or most players.
That said, while I know its best times are behind it, you can still treat Noby Noby Boy as a weird little interactive toy to occupy your controller for however many minutes you can spare, and try to imagine doing it for a purpose. Maybe it's some kind of statement on why we play games at all, I don't know.
Can you skip it? Sure. But a good stretch once in a while can do wonders for you.
Fun Facts
This game began life on the Xbox 360 but was switched over to the PlayStation 3 because its controller was symmetrical. As it should be.
Noby Noby Boy, developed by Namco Bandai Games, first released in 2009.
Version played: PlayStation 3, 2009, also via memory.