Frankengamer

Crates have been an ever present feature of gaming since the days of Doom. The perfect crouching cover, climbing step, space filler and smashable hiding place for pick ups. Then there’s the king of crates - the exploding variety. Only barrels have even come close to appearing in as many games as crates and yet for all their cameos crates have never been center stage. Well get excited because that’s all about to change, crates have finally got their own game! It’s called Crate Expectations and it’s an awesomely addictive wee puzzler. Behold the trailer.

Now tell me you’re not excited. I’ve been playing a nearly finished build all night and it is fiendishly addictive. The simple aim is to slide your crates from point A to point B, you play against 2 opponents and the winner is the first to deliver 5 crates to point B. This simple premise is deliciously spiced up by the ability to add ice blocks and aid your passage or block your opponents. It manages to capture that kind of Bomberman feel and the easily picked up mechanics allow for a surprising level of tactical deviousness.

Icy winter wonderland maps provide a variety of grids to negotiate and you can play against AI or human opponents. The art style is cute and colourful and the whole thing has been put together with a good level of polish.

Where can I buy it? I hear you shouting. Well hold on there for a minute. You’ll need to wait a while for the PC release but you will be able to buy it on Xbox Live Indie Games by the end of the month. Even better it will cost less than a cup of coffee. The crate related puns alone are worth the price tag.