9 ms·

World of Goo Remastered

153 points by shrikant 3y ago

rxyz 3y ago
I remember this game fondly, though I don't really feel like playing it again. Sucks that it's a Netflix exclusive
MatthiasPortzel 3y ago
I didn’t realize Netflix was now competing as a mobile game publisher.
- CharlesW 3y ago
  Netflix stock price is half of what it was in 2021, and as a subscriber via T-Mobile I can confirm that their content situation is dire. This is a company throwing whatever they can find at the wall to see what sticks.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    The latest tempest over password sharing doesn't affect me but it did give me the motivation to look at their catalog last night. There are a few things I've been meaning to watch but I think I'll those and drop Netflix for the time being. Funnily enough, I might have given DVDs another shot but of course that's going away.
- savef 3y ago
  If you're looking for something to try I can recommend Into the Breach. As a turn-based strategy it works really nicely on a touch screen. I don't think I'm ever going to _get_ 3D realtime games played on a phone...
donatj 3y ago
> Available exclusively for Netflix members. Wat, why? I have a Netflix subscription, and I find this infuriating. Just let me pay for the damned game and keep it.
- tiedieconderoga 3y ago
  The funny thing is, World of Goo was already released this way on Android, and the old version still works fine offline. Too bad it's no longer available on the Google Play store.
- tantalor 3y ago
  Netflix has a ton of games, if you've never noticed. https://help.netflix.com/en/node/121442 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/121442 It's a membership perk.
  - yamtaddle 3y ago
    ... I had no idea this existed. I've been a member since the DVD days (with a couple brief interruptions—and I'll probably re-cancel again pretty soon, until something gets me back in for a while)
  - epiccoleman 3y ago
    Wow, I was pretty skeptical but there are a few titles on here that are really good. Into The Breach is great, and I'm looking forward to trying it as a phone game. I also discovered Poinpy, which is by the creator of Downwell, and is a ton of fun. Also Moonlighter, which I've been wanting to try for a while. This is honestly pretty a cool subscription perk.
- Gigachad 3y ago
  Probably the Android equivalent to Apple Arcade. I know one dev who released their game on Apple Arcade and had said that the exclusivity deal is too good to reject. It isn't viable to sell the app stand alone because people just don't buy apps anymore. But bundling it in to an existing subscription works because you get paid regularly and don't have to convince users to buy anything which is a hard task.
  - no_butterscotch 3y ago
    Do you know roughly how much the dev made from his game? What was the payment structure like?
satvikpendem 3y ago
I remember playing World of Goo back when it first launched on the Wii, it was a great game. I believe it was one of the first games I downloaded from the Wii Store as opposed to buying on disk. I'm ready to play it again via the Android version.
clnq 3y ago
So how does Netflix exclusivity work for apps freely distributed on the Play Store? Do you need to log in with a Netflix account and does it need to be always online to check that the account has not expired? Also, has anyone from Netflix shared why they wanted to make their own game subscription as opposed to the normal premium monetization (pay upfront) or other monetization models? I know Netflix already has a media business built around subscriptions, obviously, but did they say anything about why they chose this for games? I don't think games-as-a-subscription is a very easy monetization model. Even large game development companies struggle with it. The games need to retain players for a long time for subscriptions to surpass upfront sales in revenue per player. It is very challenging. The whole games industry is tilted the other way around - sometimes building up too much hype to get pre-orders and initial sales (which in itself is a large topic that I'd rather not open up right now). But the decision Netflix made seems to go against a lot of my professional experience in indie and AAA games. So it's very interesting.
- donatj 3y ago
  I'm playing it right now. You have to sign in to Netflix to use it.
  - zem 3y ago
    whoa. well, that's certainly a choice they can make, but it's an extremely cheap and seedy look.
    - tlhunter 3y ago
      It's not that different than apps which require you to authenticate with Google or Facebook.
      - jlokier 3y ago
        Which is also a seedy look, and risky with Google tending to close accounts without recourse. But although I used hundreds of apps, I don't think any of them authenticate with my Google or Facebook accounts anyway - except for work apps, and those all use work Google accounts which I don't control. In practice each of my devices has a different primary Gooogle account unique to the device, and my Facebook account is only used inside an isolated Facebook container in my desktop browser, never on the phone. It's a strange thing but I trust Netflix more, especially more than Facebook, which is why my phone is logged into the same Netflix account as my TV and laptop.
persedes 3y ago
my son is still playing the same version I bought on android years ago. Might give this one a spin. The changes seem to be improved graphics and more platform independent [0] [0] - https://www.androidpolice.com/world-of-goo-relaunches-android-remaster/ https://www.androidpolice.com/world-of-goo-relaunches-androi...
mattbee 3y ago
Ahhh I loved this game so much. There's such a lovely human touch to it. I tend to hate puzzle games but this makes you feel like you just found a good fudge each time you succeed.
- troupo 3y ago
  I think I completed it five times :) I do wish there was a continuation (kinda hinted at by the ending)
marcellus23 3y ago
available on iOS as well: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/world-of-goo-remastered/id6443476726 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/world-of-goo-remastered/id6443...
ed25519FUUU 3y ago
“No in app purchases” I absolutely love this! The App Store has become a wasteland of subscriptions and in-app purchases. I just tried to use a tape measure app. They wanted me to sign up for a $14.99 a week subscription! How did it get this bad?!
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
  > Available exclusively for Netflix members.
- frizlab 3y ago
  I use Apple Arcade and have no in-apps for games (on arcade of course). I guess this is the netflix equivalent of Arcade.
- littlecranky67 3y ago
  It always was this bad. Google has no interest in a 'Show only apps without Ads and IAP' filterbutton on the Appstore. It would be implemented in a heartbeat and greatly improve the UX, but hurt sales. But hey, on Android you should know that you are the product (grass in iOS Land is not much greener though)
  - skeaker 3y ago
    On Android you can side load whatever you want at any time including exclusively FOSS if you want, so no, you're not necessarily the product there. On Google's store specifically, sure
    - yrnameer 3y ago
      You have to load a custom ROM if you don't want to be tracked without your consent. You have a crumb more freedom on Android, that's all.
      - lern_too_spel 3y ago
        You can simply not sign into a Google account, and Android lets you turn off more tracking than iOS, which won't even let you get your location without telling Apple. No need to install a custom ROM.
slily 3y ago
I wonder how many video game developers come out ahead with those exclusivity deals. Every story I've heard points to even limited exclusivity crippling lifetime sales.
- jdlshore 3y ago
  World of Goo is a very old game. At this point, extra revenue from it is pure gravy.
- Gigachad 3y ago
  The Jelly Car dev just released a new version on Apple Arcade and had commented that the deal was very favorable.
- pimlottc 3y ago
  I imagine that most games have a very limited lifetime to begin with. Only a very free become “classics” that continue to sell well for years.
- rtpg 3y ago
  There was a leak for the Epic Games store pricing (or was it through discovery in Epic v Apple?) that made it sound like you're getting a decent one-time cash payment in most situations
oh_sigh 3y ago
Well, now I feel old. World of Goo is older today than snood was when World of Goo came out.
jamesu 3y ago
I played through this game the other month and was amazed at how well it still holds up. Also a good example of a game with a very complimentary sound track.
eole666 3y ago
Well, it seems they just removed the old world of goo version from the playstore and published a "remastered" version exclusively for Netflix users that looks exactly the same (not even bothering to mention what the remastered game actually change ). At least the game is still great!
nomemory 3y ago
That's a game that kept me hooked more than a game should keep a human captive. I have it on Steam, I don't see any reason to burn some hours on it on the phone.
- rob74 3y ago
  I played World of Goo on a PC and on a tablet back in the day, and I felt it's easier to control with a mouse, because you can't see the gooballs (which have to be placed pretty precisely) if your finger is over them. So, if you want to play it without a Netflix subscription, it's 12,49€ on Steam. Or 60€ for the Tomorrow Corporation Bundle, including WoG, Little Inferno, Human Resource Machine, 7 Billion Humans and The Captain.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    I played World of Goo on Wii and while it was sort of a nice game to play sitting back, I'm not sure the Wii controller was the most natural thing to use.
  - autoexec 3y ago
    Good Old Games has it DRM free
    - lloeki 3y ago
      IIRC it was always DRM free (except on iOS/macOS/GPlay but that's part of the packaging)
skybrian 3y ago
Looks like the original version was taken down in the Android store, but is still available for $5 on Amazon [1]. The desktop version is $20 direct or $15 on Steam. [1] https://www.amazon.com/2D-BOY-LLC-World-Goo/dp/B009MCRHH6 https://www.amazon.com/2D-BOY-LLC-World-Goo/dp/B009MCRHH6
- autoexec 3y ago
  $15 at GOG plus it's DRM free
  - guntars 3y ago
    Yes! Please support GOG if you can because they are doing it right.
c7DJTLrn 3y ago
I used to waste hours in World of Goo and Little Inferno. Fun games.
MarcoZavala 3y ago
[dead]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
binkHN 3y ago
It appears this Remastered version has “hi-res” graphics—though I’m not certain how valuable it is on a tiny phone screen.
mvdtnz 3y ago
> We're sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server.
Waterluvian 3y ago
I enjoyed this game a ton. The ambience is great. But when I went to play it again I found that my fingers obfuscating the play area was far more annoying than I remembered. Dragging things around the edge also sucked. I’d “let go” of goo balls all the time when I didn’t mean to.
rzzzt 3y ago
Was Tower of Goo an early version of this game? You had to build a tower out of a finite number of blobs (duh) without them collapsing, the higher the better. Libertango was playing as the background music.
- treve 3y ago
  I know this as a mini-game that's part of world of goo.
- savef 3y ago
  Yeah, I remember this trending as a sort of freeware/demo too. More info: https://worldofgoo.fandom.com/wiki/Tower_of_Goo_(game) https://worldofgoo.fandom.com/wiki/Tower_of_Goo_(game)
- somat 3y ago
  Tower of goo was the proof-of-concept. I believe it was made in a game jam type environment. It was popular enough they made a more fleshed out game out of the concept. "world of goo". tower of goo remains as a minigame in world of goo.
- ido 3y ago
  Yes! I find it funny that you're asking this, the original World of Goo having released almost 15 years ago (the one linked above is the remake) and probably one of the most popular/well known indie games of that era :) It reminds me a few years ago when talking about Battlestar Galactica one of my coworkers at some point said "wait, they did a remake of battlestar galactica?" - this whole time he thought we were talking about the original 70s show, who he was a fan of and didn't realize (a decade+ after it was released) that the BSG everyone was talking about was a remake.
mdtrooper 3y ago
The floss alternative (but it grow slow...years of wip) is https://mandarancio.github.io/OpenGOO/ https://mandarancio.github.io/OpenGOO/ .
Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago
I love WoG and bought it directly from their website back in the day, then I bought it on Google Play, Steam, and AppStore. Now, original app on Google Play seems to be unavailable for me for install, because it was apparently taken down, and new app is unavailable because my Google Play region is Russia ... . I understand sanctions and such, but it feels like the game was kinda stolen from me. Not nice, Netflix. I've already started torrenting my revenge.

153 points by shrikant 3y ago

rxyz 3y ago

I remember this game fondly, though I don't really feel like playing it again. Sucks that it's a Netflix exclusive

MatthiasPortzel 3y ago

I didn’t realize Netflix was now competing as a mobile game publisher.

CharlesW 3y ago
Netflix stock price is half of what it was in 2021, and as a subscriber via T-Mobile I can confirm that their content situation is dire. This is a company throwing whatever they can find at the wall to see what sticks.
- ghaff 3y ago
  The latest tempest over password sharing doesn't affect me but it did give me the motivation to look at their catalog last night. There are a few things I've been meaning to watch but I think I'll those and drop Netflix for the time being. Funnily enough, I might have given DVDs another shot but of course that's going away.
savef 3y ago
If you're looking for something to try I can recommend Into the Breach. As a turn-based strategy it works really nicely on a touch screen. I don't think I'm ever going to _get_ 3D realtime games played on a phone...

donatj 3y ago

> Available exclusively for Netflix members. Wat, why? I have a Netflix subscription, and I find this infuriating. Just let me pay for the damned game and keep it.

tiedieconderoga 3y ago
The funny thing is, World of Goo was already released this way on Android, and the old version still works fine offline. Too bad it's no longer available on the Google Play store.
tantalor 3y ago
Netflix has a ton of games, if you've never noticed. https://help.netflix.com/en/node/121442 https://help.netflix.com/en/node/121442 It's a membership perk.
- yamtaddle 3y ago
  ... I had no idea this existed. I've been a member since the DVD days (with a couple brief interruptions—and I'll probably re-cancel again pretty soon, until something gets me back in for a while)
- epiccoleman 3y ago
  Wow, I was pretty skeptical but there are a few titles on here that are really good. Into The Breach is great, and I'm looking forward to trying it as a phone game. I also discovered Poinpy, which is by the creator of Downwell, and is a ton of fun. Also Moonlighter, which I've been wanting to try for a while. This is honestly pretty a cool subscription perk.
Gigachad 3y ago
Probably the Android equivalent to Apple Arcade. I know one dev who released their game on Apple Arcade and had said that the exclusivity deal is too good to reject. It isn't viable to sell the app stand alone because people just don't buy apps anymore. But bundling it in to an existing subscription works because you get paid regularly and don't have to convince users to buy anything which is a hard task.
- no_butterscotch 3y ago
  Do you know roughly how much the dev made from his game? What was the payment structure like?

satvikpendem 3y ago

I remember playing World of Goo back when it first launched on the Wii, it was a great game. I believe it was one of the first games I downloaded from the Wii Store as opposed to buying on disk. I'm ready to play it again via the Android version.

clnq 3y ago

So how does Netflix exclusivity work for apps freely distributed on the Play Store? Do you need to log in with a Netflix account and does it need to be always online to check that the account has not expired? Also, has anyone from Netflix shared why they wanted to make their own game subscription as opposed to the normal premium monetization (pay upfront) or other monetization models? I know Netflix already has a media business built around subscriptions, obviously, but did they say anything about why they chose this for games? I don't think games-as-a-subscription is a very easy monetization model. Even large game development companies struggle with it. The games need to retain players for a long time for subscriptions to surpass upfront sales in revenue per player. It is very challenging. The whole games industry is tilted the other way around - sometimes building up too much hype to get pre-orders and initial sales (which in itself is a large topic that I'd rather not open up right now). But the decision Netflix made seems to go against a lot of my professional experience in indie and AAA games. So it's very interesting.

donatj 3y ago
I'm playing it right now. You have to sign in to Netflix to use it.
- zem 3y ago
  whoa. well, that's certainly a choice they can make, but it's an extremely cheap and seedy look.
  - tlhunter 3y ago
    It's not that different than apps which require you to authenticate with Google or Facebook.
    - jlokier 3y ago
      Which is also a seedy look, and risky with Google tending to close accounts without recourse. But although I used hundreds of apps, I don't think any of them authenticate with my Google or Facebook accounts anyway - except for work apps, and those all use work Google accounts which I don't control. In practice each of my devices has a different primary Gooogle account unique to the device, and my Facebook account is only used inside an isolated Facebook container in my desktop browser, never on the phone. It's a strange thing but I trust Netflix more, especially more than Facebook, which is why my phone is logged into the same Netflix account as my TV and laptop.

persedes 3y ago

my son is still playing the same version I bought on android years ago. Might give this one a spin. The changes seem to be improved graphics and more platform independent [0] [0] - https://www.androidpolice.com/world-of-goo-relaunches-android-remaster/ https://www.androidpolice.com/world-of-goo-relaunches-androi...

mattbee 3y ago

Ahhh I loved this game so much. There's such a lovely human touch to it. I tend to hate puzzle games but this makes you feel like you just found a good fudge each time you succeed.

troupo 3y ago
I think I completed it five times :) I do wish there was a continuation (kinda hinted at by the ending)

marcellus23 3y ago

available on iOS as well: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/world-of-goo-remastered/id6443476726 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/world-of-goo-remastered/id6443...

ed25519FUUU 3y ago

“No in app purchases” I absolutely love this! The App Store has become a wasteland of subscriptions and in-app purchases. I just tried to use a tape measure app. They wanted me to sign up for a $14.99 a week subscription! How did it get this bad?!

2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
> Available exclusively for Netflix members.
frizlab 3y ago
I use Apple Arcade and have no in-apps for games (on arcade of course). I guess this is the netflix equivalent of Arcade.
littlecranky67 3y ago
It always was this bad. Google has no interest in a 'Show only apps without Ads and IAP' filterbutton on the Appstore. It would be implemented in a heartbeat and greatly improve the UX, but hurt sales. But hey, on Android you should know that you are the product (grass in iOS Land is not much greener though)
- skeaker 3y ago
  On Android you can side load whatever you want at any time including exclusively FOSS if you want, so no, you're not necessarily the product there. On Google's store specifically, sure
  - yrnameer 3y ago
    You have to load a custom ROM if you don't want to be tracked without your consent. You have a crumb more freedom on Android, that's all.
    - lern_too_spel 3y ago
      You can simply not sign into a Google account, and Android lets you turn off more tracking than iOS, which won't even let you get your location without telling Apple. No need to install a custom ROM.

slily 3y ago

I wonder how many video game developers come out ahead with those exclusivity deals. Every story I've heard points to even limited exclusivity crippling lifetime sales.

jdlshore 3y ago
World of Goo is a very old game. At this point, extra revenue from it is pure gravy.
Gigachad 3y ago
The Jelly Car dev just released a new version on Apple Arcade and had commented that the deal was very favorable.
pimlottc 3y ago
I imagine that most games have a very limited lifetime to begin with. Only a very free become “classics” that continue to sell well for years.
rtpg 3y ago
There was a leak for the Epic Games store pricing (or was it through discovery in Epic v Apple?) that made it sound like you're getting a decent one-time cash payment in most situations

oh_sigh 3y ago

Well, now I feel old. World of Goo is older today than snood was when World of Goo came out.

jamesu 3y ago

I played through this game the other month and was amazed at how well it still holds up. Also a good example of a game with a very complimentary sound track.

eole666 3y ago

Well, it seems they just removed the old world of goo version from the playstore and published a "remastered" version exclusively for Netflix users that looks exactly the same (not even bothering to mention what the remastered game actually change ). At least the game is still great!

nomemory 3y ago

That's a game that kept me hooked more than a game should keep a human captive. I have it on Steam, I don't see any reason to burn some hours on it on the phone.

rob74 3y ago
I played World of Goo on a PC and on a tablet back in the day, and I felt it's easier to control with a mouse, because you can't see the gooballs (which have to be placed pretty precisely) if your finger is over them. So, if you want to play it without a Netflix subscription, it's 12,49€ on Steam. Or 60€ for the Tomorrow Corporation Bundle, including WoG, Little Inferno, Human Resource Machine, 7 Billion Humans and The Captain.
- ghaff 3y ago
  I played World of Goo on Wii and while it was sort of a nice game to play sitting back, I'm not sure the Wii controller was the most natural thing to use.
- autoexec 3y ago
  Good Old Games has it DRM free
  - lloeki 3y ago
    IIRC it was always DRM free (except on iOS/macOS/GPlay but that's part of the packaging)

skybrian 3y ago

Looks like the original version was taken down in the Android store, but is still available for $5 on Amazon [1]. The desktop version is $20 direct or $15 on Steam. [1] https://www.amazon.com/2D-BOY-LLC-World-Goo/dp/B009MCRHH6 https://www.amazon.com/2D-BOY-LLC-World-Goo/dp/B009MCRHH6

autoexec 3y ago
$15 at GOG plus it's DRM free
- guntars 3y ago
  Yes! Please support GOG if you can because they are doing it right.

c7DJTLrn 3y ago

I used to waste hours in World of Goo and Little Inferno. Fun games.

MarcoZavala 3y ago

[dead]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

binkHN 3y ago

It appears this Remastered version has “hi-res” graphics—though I’m not certain how valuable it is on a tiny phone screen.

mvdtnz 3y ago

> We're sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server.

Waterluvian 3y ago

I enjoyed this game a ton. The ambience is great. But when I went to play it again I found that my fingers obfuscating the play area was far more annoying than I remembered. Dragging things around the edge also sucked. I’d “let go” of goo balls all the time when I didn’t mean to.

rzzzt 3y ago

Was Tower of Goo an early version of this game? You had to build a tower out of a finite number of blobs (duh) without them collapsing, the higher the better. Libertango was playing as the background music.

treve 3y ago
I know this as a mini-game that's part of world of goo.
savef 3y ago
Yeah, I remember this trending as a sort of freeware/demo too. More info: https://worldofgoo.fandom.com/wiki/Tower_of_Goo_(game) https://worldofgoo.fandom.com/wiki/Tower_of_Goo_(game)
somat 3y ago
Tower of goo was the proof-of-concept. I believe it was made in a game jam type environment. It was popular enough they made a more fleshed out game out of the concept. "world of goo". tower of goo remains as a minigame in world of goo.
ido 3y ago
Yes! I find it funny that you're asking this, the original World of Goo having released almost 15 years ago (the one linked above is the remake) and probably one of the most popular/well known indie games of that era :) It reminds me a few years ago when talking about Battlestar Galactica one of my coworkers at some point said "wait, they did a remake of battlestar galactica?" - this whole time he thought we were talking about the original 70s show, who he was a fan of and didn't realize (a decade+ after it was released) that the BSG everyone was talking about was a remake.

mdtrooper 3y ago

The floss alternative (but it grow slow...years of wip) is https://mandarancio.github.io/OpenGOO/ https://mandarancio.github.io/OpenGOO/ .

Andrew_nenakhov 3y ago

I love WoG and bought it directly from their website back in the day, then I bought it on Google Play, Steam, and AppStore. Now, original app on Google Play seems to be unavailable for me for install, because it was apparently taken down, and new app is unavailable because my Google Play region is Russia ... . I understand sanctions and such, but it feels like the game was kinda stolen from me. Not nice, Netflix. I've already started torrenting my revenge.