Bulb Boy Bulbware Sp. z o.o. Multi-award winning 2D horror puzzle adventure about a boy with a glowing head. One gloomy night, Bulb Boy wakes sudden… TouchArcade Rating: $2.99 Buy Now Watch Media DetailsMulti-award winning 2D horror puzzle adventure about a boy with a glowing head. One gloomy night, Bulb Boy wakes suddenly from a frightening nightmare to discover that evil has overshadowed the Bulbhouse. His family has disappeared and there are horrid monsters lurking in the shadows. Gather the courage and use his glass head to save everything he loves. Find light in yourself! Gameplay Bulb Boy is an intuitive 2D point & click horror adventure about a boy with a glowing head (alright, it's a bulb...) inspired by Machinarium and Gobliiins. Solve puzzles, defeat wicked monsters and reveal bulby's abilities to unfold a twisted tale. Ohhh... And don't forget to save your Grandpa-raffin and Mothdog from the frightening darkness.. Key Features DEFEAT THE MONSTERS -Explore the Bulb house, that is full of frightening creatures. Defeat the evil in all its forms and bring the light back. BULB'S TALENTS - Being a boy that is a bulb comes with many talents. Not only does your head light up and allows you to survive electrical shocks, but it can also be unscrewed for use in strange places. PLAYABLE FLASHBACKS - Play as other family characters. Relive Bulb Boy's childhood memories to uncover the mystery of the story. BUBBLE SPEECH - No dialogue, just bubble speech. Watch the story unfold in animated clouds. SECRETS - There are things in the house waiting to be revealed. POOP - In many sizes and proportions. Information Seller:Bulbware Sp. z o.o. Genre:Adventure, Puzzle Release:Jul 21, 2016 Updated:Feb 28, 2019 Version:1.2 Size:569.8 MB TouchArcade Rating: User Rating: (4) Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel touchy85 Well-Known Member Jan 21, 2015 1,616 1 38 #2 touchy85, Jul 21, 2016 Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel Most important thing for me in point and click adventures is: do the puzzles make sense. In Bulb Boy they don't make sense all the time and I think that makes the game way more frustrating than it should. That's a shame given how good the game looks and how charming it is. metalcasket Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze May 24, 2010 11,065 1,342 113 Deepest Circle, Hel #3 metalcasket, Jul 21, 2016 Having proved that I still cannot play through Day of the Tentacle without a walkthrough in hand 20 years later, I have no problem with nonsensical solutions in Point and Click games. The Monkey Islands had them, Grim Fandango did (again, my favorite game of all time) and even more "common sense" titles like the classic Broken Swords had solutions that were a little far fetched. That doesn't take ANYTHING away from how good Bulb Boy is. orangecan Well-Known Member Aug 9, 2011 2,000 150 63 #4 orangecan, Jul 21, 2016 I can't remember the last point and clicker I played that didn't have obscure solutions - in fact I'm disappointed if they don't - will be buying this Asaph but it'll have to wait till I've finished DOTT metalcasket Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze May 24, 2010 11,065 1,342 113 Deepest Circle, Hel #5 metalcasket, Jul 21, 2016 Well then get to finishing Tentacle! I can officially endorse Bulb Boy right now. There was a bug with the release version that made the game insanely dark on Metal devices, but the update just hit and we're good to go! touchy85 Well-Known Member Jan 21, 2015 1,616 1 38 #6 touchy85, Jul 21, 2016 It does take anything away from how good Bulb Boy is for me. I like it when I take my time and get to a solution that does make sense. I noticed that when I was playing Bulb Boy that I pretty much started to tap random objects on my screen and hope I accidentally solved the puzzle. For example I've played through all the Gabriel Knight games on iOS and this never happened. metalcasket Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze May 24, 2010 11,065 1,342 113 Deepest Circle, Hel #7 metalcasket, Jul 21, 2016 Have you tried the Blackwell games? The aforementioned titles in this thread? Fran Bow? The Longest Journey? The Leisure Suit Larry series? Ever heard of the term "Pixel Hunting"? It was all too common back in the day to not even notice objects you could pick up on screen and you'd have to resort to literally clicking on all parts of the screen to find them and god forbid, try every single inconceivable combination of things to move along. I get that it gets in the way of your enjoyment of Bulb Boy, but I just don't want people to think "Oh great...this shit doesn't make sense. I'm not gonna bother". The caveat with nearly all classic and "modern classic" P&C games is the very issue you're having with Bulb Boy. touchy85 Well-Known Member Jan 21, 2015 1,616 1 38 #8 touchy85, Jul 21, 2016 Only played Leisure Suit Larry, but I was way too young back then and pretty much had the same problem with that. Don't get me wrong, Bulb Boy gets a lot of great reviews on steam. But for me tapping random objects and trying random combinations is not something I enjoy in games, glad you're enjoying it though. People might have the same opinion about this as me and they might want to know this before the buy Bulb Boy. orangecan Well-Known Member Aug 9, 2011 2,000 150 63 #9 orangecan, Jul 21, 2016 Sold and bought! I'm taking my time with tentacle - when I last played it was fairly soon after it came out and our PC couldn't handle the speech so Ive never heard the dialogue spoken before which Is just making me love it all the more. Give me Sam and Max and I'll be a very happy bunny. Candykiller Well-Known Member Patreon Bronze Dec 15, 2010 1,418 0 36 Illustrator/Designer United Kingdom http://www.candykiller.com #10 Candykiller, Jul 21, 2016 The visuals are so much better after the update. I thought something didn't seem right with the previous version. You couldn't see a thing apart from the light directly around the character. And there was really bad banding on the gradients. Love it! metalcasket Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze May 24, 2010 11,065 1,342 113 Deepest Circle, Hel #11 metalcasket, Jul 22, 2016 Just finished. What a frickin' game. The perfect blend between traditional Point and Click, light platforming and cave flying elements, sheer gross horror/gore and adorableness... I said I'd play through it and delete it, but it looks like this one's in it for the long haul. I already feel like replaying it. 555 MBs I'll probably never see again. L4dyJuRk3v Member May 9, 2012 6 0 1 #12 L4dyJuRk3v, Jul 22, 2016 Last edited: Jul 22, 2016 Anybody playing it on an iPhone? Really wanted to buy it but I only have my 5S available right now :/ Artfoundry Well-Known Member May 11, 2009 2,519 2 38 COO and Creative Director at LCD Dreams, Inc. Bay area, CA #13 Artfoundry, Jul 24, 2016 I have to agree with touchy. I dislike the necessity of hunt and peck to find an item/switch/solution. Just because it's common in these types of games doesn't make it good game design. That's not to say people wouldn't/shouldn't like it - obviously people like yourself do, and more power to you if you do. But I still think you can have great game design and puzzles without resorting to that. Candykiller Well-Known Member Patreon Bronze Dec 15, 2010 1,418 0 36 Illustrator/Designer United Kingdom http://www.candykiller.com #14 Candykiller, Jul 24, 2016 There's a new update that will help those who don't like searching for active items. Two finger touch and hold will now highlight active hot spots. scifistephen Well-Known Member Patreon Bronze May 4, 2013 66 0 6 #15 scifistephen, Jul 24, 2016 Totally agree with touchy I've bought a ton of these adventure games and mostly get frustrated And quit.if I have to have the walkthrough cheating throug the whole game I might as well just watch a video gameplay through the game instead of buying it.i love the story but not the being stuck every ten minutes part metalcasket Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze May 24, 2010 11,065 1,342 113 Deepest Circle, Hel #16 metalcasket, Jul 25, 2016 I'm genuinely interested in knowing where you guys are struggling with Bulb Boy and I honestly, honestly don't mean that in a condescending way (and frankly I haven't seen touchy's video). Bulb Boy is one of the most simple, streamlined Point and Click adventures and doesn't contain most of the complicated tropes you'll find in others in the genre. I'm just surprised it's this game in particular that has attracted this attitude while there have been countless P&Cs already released on iOS. To the fellow who posted above me...well, it's a relief to see someone complaining about the genre as a whole and I do definitely see your point of view on the matter. It's just...it's clear that P&Cs aren't your thing. Gambler Well-Known Member Mar 10, 2014 546 110 43 Gazorpazorp #17 Gambler, Jul 28, 2016 I have to go with Metal here. How is this game hard? I can understand that people wouldn't like pixel-hunting but like nearly every PnC nowadays Bulb Boy has a Hotspot function (just tap 2 Fingers on the screen) and you see all objects you can interact with. By comparing Bulb Boy to Dott you see how easy most PnC's have become after the Lucas Arts Era. That's not bad per se, just thinking back to the first Monkey Island some of the puzzles were pretty hard or far-fetched and you found items for your inventory you never had to use the entire game. Imo Daedalic today does a better Job with Point and Clicks. They are not easy but also not too hard most of the time and the humor is on par with the games from the golden Lucas Arts Era. With Bulb Boy on the other hand: - you very rarely have more than 1 or 2 items in your inventory - you can always only act on a single screen - on which there are usually just a max of 5 or 6 items (often less) to interact with - and you can't even combine items within your inventory - plus all items disappear after having used them (no item ever to use twice) -> all of which very much reduces the sum of possible actions, so even if you get stuck at the mostly easy puzzles you can just try around with the few hotspots and come up with the solutions -> No multi layer puzzles, no dialogue, this game's not hard, it rather is a beginner friendly PnC with a little odd but funny sense of humor. I read an interview fitting this topic lately with a 20 yo gamer who played Dott for the first time. The guy said for him Point and Clicks are games like TWD or GoT from Telltale and he gave up on Dott after an hour because he found it way too hard (he even complained about the rain puzzle being too far fetched even though when you pay attention you get two clues in certain dialogues how to solve it (not saying anymore due to spoilers but ppl who played will know what I mean). Out of this logic I can perhaps understand giving Dott a pass (even though for me having grown up with Lucas Arts and Dott being my all-time favorite PnC it's hard to comprehend ) - Gamer's tastes have changed over time - but Bulb Boy's really rather on the easy side but still fun. Tl;dr: The puzzles in Bulb Boy aren't hard, there's no pixel hunting. Humor is odd-weird-funny. Don't see something like it every day. Don't pass on the game because some people wrote it's too difficult or tedious. It really isn't. Echoseven Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze Jul 19, 2011 6,091 270 83 The red Skittle #18 Echoseven, Jul 28, 2016 I found an annoying spot early on - when you leave the bedroom for the first time. I would NEVER have thought to click on the Spoiler chandeliers above you without accidentally stumbling across it. Even after I started spamming everything. That said, that was the only time I got stuck. Once I understood how the game and the developer minds worked, it was pretty clear to see the beats from then on. brybry Well-Known Member Jan 24, 2013 178 0 0 #19 brybry, Jul 29, 2016 I can't say that this game was a gem, but it was an absolute joy to play. What an environment! How a game could be so unnerving and yet so endearing is a great quality of this game. Even though it's short, it just felt like the right length of play time. If it were any longer, I think the environment would have lost its charm. Thanks devs. Fun from beginning to end. metalcasket Moderator Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze May 24, 2010 11,065 1,342 113 Deepest Circle, Hel #20 metalcasket, Jul 29, 2016 Fantastic post. (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next > Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel Most important thing for me in point and click adventures is: do the puzzles make sense. In Bulb Boy they don't make sense all the time and I think that makes the game way more frustrating than it should. That's a shame given how good the game looks and how charming it is.
Having proved that I still cannot play through Day of the Tentacle without a walkthrough in hand 20 years later, I have no problem with nonsensical solutions in Point and Click games. The Monkey Islands had them, Grim Fandango did (again, my favorite game of all time) and even more "common sense" titles like the classic Broken Swords had solutions that were a little far fetched. That doesn't take ANYTHING away from how good Bulb Boy is.
I can't remember the last point and clicker I played that didn't have obscure solutions - in fact I'm disappointed if they don't - will be buying this Asaph but it'll have to wait till I've finished DOTT
Well then get to finishing Tentacle! I can officially endorse Bulb Boy right now. There was a bug with the release version that made the game insanely dark on Metal devices, but the update just hit and we're good to go!
It does take anything away from how good Bulb Boy is for me. I like it when I take my time and get to a solution that does make sense. I noticed that when I was playing Bulb Boy that I pretty much started to tap random objects on my screen and hope I accidentally solved the puzzle. For example I've played through all the Gabriel Knight games on iOS and this never happened.
Have you tried the Blackwell games? The aforementioned titles in this thread? Fran Bow? The Longest Journey? The Leisure Suit Larry series? Ever heard of the term "Pixel Hunting"? It was all too common back in the day to not even notice objects you could pick up on screen and you'd have to resort to literally clicking on all parts of the screen to find them and god forbid, try every single inconceivable combination of things to move along. I get that it gets in the way of your enjoyment of Bulb Boy, but I just don't want people to think "Oh great...this shit doesn't make sense. I'm not gonna bother". The caveat with nearly all classic and "modern classic" P&C games is the very issue you're having with Bulb Boy.
Only played Leisure Suit Larry, but I was way too young back then and pretty much had the same problem with that. Don't get me wrong, Bulb Boy gets a lot of great reviews on steam. But for me tapping random objects and trying random combinations is not something I enjoy in games, glad you're enjoying it though. People might have the same opinion about this as me and they might want to know this before the buy Bulb Boy.
Sold and bought! I'm taking my time with tentacle - when I last played it was fairly soon after it came out and our PC couldn't handle the speech so Ive never heard the dialogue spoken before which Is just making me love it all the more. Give me Sam and Max and I'll be a very happy bunny.
The visuals are so much better after the update. I thought something didn't seem right with the previous version. You couldn't see a thing apart from the light directly around the character. And there was really bad banding on the gradients. Love it!
Just finished. What a frickin' game. The perfect blend between traditional Point and Click, light platforming and cave flying elements, sheer gross horror/gore and adorableness... I said I'd play through it and delete it, but it looks like this one's in it for the long haul. I already feel like replaying it. 555 MBs I'll probably never see again.
Anybody playing it on an iPhone? Really wanted to buy it but I only have my 5S available right now :/
I have to agree with touchy. I dislike the necessity of hunt and peck to find an item/switch/solution. Just because it's common in these types of games doesn't make it good game design. That's not to say people wouldn't/shouldn't like it - obviously people like yourself do, and more power to you if you do. But I still think you can have great game design and puzzles without resorting to that.
There's a new update that will help those who don't like searching for active items. Two finger touch and hold will now highlight active hot spots.
Totally agree with touchy I've bought a ton of these adventure games and mostly get frustrated And quit.if I have to have the walkthrough cheating throug the whole game I might as well just watch a video gameplay through the game instead of buying it.i love the story but not the being stuck every ten minutes part
I'm genuinely interested in knowing where you guys are struggling with Bulb Boy and I honestly, honestly don't mean that in a condescending way (and frankly I haven't seen touchy's video). Bulb Boy is one of the most simple, streamlined Point and Click adventures and doesn't contain most of the complicated tropes you'll find in others in the genre. I'm just surprised it's this game in particular that has attracted this attitude while there have been countless P&Cs already released on iOS. To the fellow who posted above me...well, it's a relief to see someone complaining about the genre as a whole and I do definitely see your point of view on the matter. It's just...it's clear that P&Cs aren't your thing.
I have to go with Metal here. How is this game hard? I can understand that people wouldn't like pixel-hunting but like nearly every PnC nowadays Bulb Boy has a Hotspot function (just tap 2 Fingers on the screen) and you see all objects you can interact with. By comparing Bulb Boy to Dott you see how easy most PnC's have become after the Lucas Arts Era. That's not bad per se, just thinking back to the first Monkey Island some of the puzzles were pretty hard or far-fetched and you found items for your inventory you never had to use the entire game. Imo Daedalic today does a better Job with Point and Clicks. They are not easy but also not too hard most of the time and the humor is on par with the games from the golden Lucas Arts Era. With Bulb Boy on the other hand: - you very rarely have more than 1 or 2 items in your inventory - you can always only act on a single screen - on which there are usually just a max of 5 or 6 items (often less) to interact with - and you can't even combine items within your inventory - plus all items disappear after having used them (no item ever to use twice) -> all of which very much reduces the sum of possible actions, so even if you get stuck at the mostly easy puzzles you can just try around with the few hotspots and come up with the solutions -> No multi layer puzzles, no dialogue, this game's not hard, it rather is a beginner friendly PnC with a little odd but funny sense of humor. I read an interview fitting this topic lately with a 20 yo gamer who played Dott for the first time. The guy said for him Point and Clicks are games like TWD or GoT from Telltale and he gave up on Dott after an hour because he found it way too hard (he even complained about the rain puzzle being too far fetched even though when you pay attention you get two clues in certain dialogues how to solve it (not saying anymore due to spoilers but ppl who played will know what I mean). Out of this logic I can perhaps understand giving Dott a pass (even though for me having grown up with Lucas Arts and Dott being my all-time favorite PnC it's hard to comprehend ) - Gamer's tastes have changed over time - but Bulb Boy's really rather on the easy side but still fun. Tl;dr: The puzzles in Bulb Boy aren't hard, there's no pixel hunting. Humor is odd-weird-funny. Don't see something like it every day. Don't pass on the game because some people wrote it's too difficult or tedious. It really isn't.
I found an annoying spot early on - when you leave the bedroom for the first time. I would NEVER have thought to click on the Spoiler chandeliers above you without accidentally stumbling across it. Even after I started spamming everything. That said, that was the only time I got stuck. Once I understood how the game and the developer minds worked, it was pretty clear to see the beats from then on.
I can't say that this game was a gem, but it was an absolute joy to play. What an environment! How a game could be so unnerving and yet so endearing is a great quality of this game. Even though it's short, it just felt like the right length of play time. If it were any longer, I think the environment would have lost its charm. Thanks devs. Fun from beginning to end.
