BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!

BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! ハコボーイ!&ハコガール!
Game Information
JP	ハコボーイ!&ハコガール! (Hako Bōi! & Hako Gāru!)
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release	WW (Nintendo Switch) April 26, 2019 WW (Nintendo Switch 2) TBD 2025
MSRP	$9.99 £8.99 ¥1222
Platform(s)	Native Backward-compatible (upcoming)
Mode(s)	Single-player, multi-player
Genre	Puzzle-platform
Credits
Director(s)	Taku Koinuma
Programmer(s)	Takaaki Kawahara
Sound	Yuta Ogasawara Jun Ishikawa Hirokazu Ando

BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! is a puzzle platformer video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch system on April 26, 2019. It is the fourth and most recent installment in the BOXBOY! series, and marks the first time a mainline game in the series has been released on a device other than the Nintendo 3DS. The game is heavily focused on two-player, a first for the series. The game has the most stages of any games in the series to date, with 270 between the 3 campaigns.

The game will be backwards-compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2 console following the console's release in 2025. This marks the first time a mainline game in the series has been accessible on more than one console.

Description

English (US)

Think outside the box to save a world in peril! As Qbby or Qucy, you'll create boxes and use them to surmount more than 270 puzzling stages—the most in the series to date! The box planet is plagued with obstacles, so jump, climb, drift, ride, and warp your way past them in three modes, complete with their own stories, stages, challenges, and techniques. You can even team up for a 2-player adventure starring both star-crossed boxes!

A Tale for Two is a new mode in which—for the first time in the series—two players can work together to solve puzzles... Or one brave player can alternate between Qbby and Qucy! On top of that, there's a third adventure starring Qudy, the tall one, and thanks to his extra-tall boxes, you'll even have to think outside the rectangle! As you beat stages, you'll uncover more, and if you're efficient, earn medals you can use to score everything from boxy accessories to simple comics to helpful items at the in-game shop. Got your eye on a sweet sailor costume? Then try Balloon Challenge: if you get all ten balloons before the time runs out, you'll score extra medals!

English (UK)

The fan-favourite 2D puzzle-platformer series comes to Nintendo Switch, in BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! Think outside the box – alone or with a friend in co-op – as you help Qbby and his pals solve tricky puzzles across 270 brainteasing stages!

Japanese

ハコを出して、飛び乗って。 アタマとハコを上手く使ってゴールを目指す、ひらめきパズルアクションゲーム「ハコボーイ！」がNintendo Switchダウンロードソフトとして登場！

本作は、シリーズ初の2人用モードを収録。 しかけ盛りだくさんのステージを、２人であれこれ知恵を出し合いながら協力して遊ぶことができます。

さらに1人用モードクリア後には、背の高い「キューディ」で冒険するモードも登場。 リーチを生かしたハコ技で、ワンランク上のステージに挑戦できます。

収録ステージはシリーズ最多の270種類。 いつでもどこでも誰とでも、思う存分お楽しみいただけます。

Plot

Qbby enters through a level door into a green field and sees Qucy who is with two Qbabies, one with blue cheeks and one with red cheeks. A meteor falls between the red-cheeked Qbaby and the others, separating the ground.

After Box Dad and Box Mom enter through a level door into a green field, black meteors begin falling from the sky and the ground turns black. They encounter Box Baby, who then joins them. After traversing a few worlds, a chunk of the meteor hits the ground the three are standing on, sending them underground. They find the Box Ship, so Box Mom gives her bow to Box Baby and her and Box Dad sacrifice themselves to power it so that Box Baby can escape the planet.

At the beginning of World 5, Qbby and Qucy encounter a grey Qudy and manage to restore him. He then accompanies the group. Qbby, Qucy, Qudy, and the blue-cheeked Qbaby find the Box Ship that Box Baby boarded, and to help them escape the black smoke, she abducts all four into the ship. After Qbby, Qucy, and the Qbabies are reunited, the Box Ship's monitor shows that the meteors falling onto the planets are caused by a purple cloud. It sends a giant meteor at the planet, prompting Qbby and Qucy to go onto the meteor's surface in order to destroy it before it can make contact with the planet. The Box Ship shoots three drills which connect with the meteor in various places, slowing it down.

Qudy goes back to the surface of the planet in order to destroy the purple cloud. By collecting four fragments from different worlds, Qudy powers a machine that shoots two lasers directly into the purple cloud, substantially weakening it. The Qbabies arrive to take Qudy into the purple cloud so that he can destroy it. A portal opens in space after he partially blows it up and begins sucking the cloud into it, causing him to panic, but he is teleported off-planet and into space, where is he rescued by two boxes who resemble Qbby and Qucy. The Box Ship then veers toward the now-decayed Box Planet.

Meanwhile, Qbby and Qucy travel across the meteor in order to power the drills. They encounter a separate box who sacrifices themselves to power the first drill, which cracks the meteor. Later, Qucy sacrifices herself to activate the second drill, which causes a second crack in the meteor.

First Ending

At the end of the last world, if the story is completed without gaining all four fragments (this will always be the case on the first playthrough), Qbby finds that the final drill requires two boxes instead of one. He sits down in the gap and closes his eyes before the smoke covers the entire area. The meteor, undestroyed, crashes into the planet, causing it to fall apart. A grey Qbby then falls onto the broken planet with his eyes shut. The credits then roll. At the end of the credits, a post-credit scene is shown where a white box falls from the sky next to the grey Qbby. At the bottom right screen, the text "To be continued" shows.

While unconfirmed, it is commonly believed that this ending leads to BOXBOY!'s beginning.

Second Ending

If the story is completed after gaining all four fragments (by completing all stories), and equipping them, Qbby arrives at the final drill and notices that it requires two boxes instead of one. He sits in the drill and closes his eyes. The four fragments then combine to create a second box which is glowing. It sits in the other gap of the drill, allowing it to be activated, which subsequently destroys the meteor. The black smoke moves away from the planet and it is green again. The credits roll, showing the Qbabies playing and running around on a green field after the world has been saved. They then look up as the camera pans up to reveal space, where, as the "The End" text appears, four stars glow for a brief moment.

Characters

Main article: Characters

BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! features 3 playable characters. In single-player mode, the player plays as Qbby or Qucy (switchable using ZR and ZL on the Switch controller), featuring the moves and abilities from previous games. In two-player, the first player is Box Dad, while the second player is Box Mom. There is no actual difference between them, besides Box Mom's boxes having a bow on them to prevent confusion. After beating either "A Tale For One" or "A Tale For Two", a bonus campaign featuring Qudy is unlocked. Being taller than the other characters, Qudy's boxes are rectangular and he can turn sideways to make horizontal boxes instead of vertical.

Game Modes

A Tale For One

"1 player: A brave youth stands against the danger that threatens the world! The main story"

A Tale For One is a single player story in BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! where the player controls Qbby or Qucy through various levels. In this game mode, the player can switch between playing as Qbby and Qucy who mechanically have no difference.

A Tale For Two

"1-2 players: An adventure for two to protect the planet! Work together to reach the goal!"

A Tale For Two is BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!'s multiplayer mode where player 1 controls Box Dad and player 2 controls Box Mom. Appearance and gameplay-wise, these characters are identical to Qbby and Qucy.

A Tall Tale

"1 player: The tall one stirs...! A third story to sink your teeth into."

A Tall Tale is a game mode unlockable by completing one of the other two. Players control Qudy who creates oblong boxes instead of squares.

Gameplay

Move	D-Pad	Jump	B	Create	Y + D-Pad	Throw	Y (with box)	Set Down	↓ D-Pad (with box)
Erase	X	Up Hook	Hook boxes, then Y	Hop	Create boxes, then B	Slide	A (with box)	Slam	↓ in midair

Abilities Featured

• Up Hook
• Hop
• Slide
• Slam

Gallery

• 

  The game's icon on the Nintendo Switch HOME Menu.

• 

  The game's logo.

Screenshots

• 
• 

  From left: Qucy, Box Baby, and Qbby.

• 

  Miracle Boy! Costume

Trivia

• BOXBOY + BOXGIRL! is the first game in the BOXBOY! series which features multiplayer.
• This game is the first (and currently only) BOXBOY! title available on Nintendo Switch
• This game is the only mainline BOXBOY! game which has never been released physically in cartridge form.
  • A physical download card which contains a code to download the game from Nintendo eShop was released exclusively in Japan.
• This game has a total of 270 levels across all campaigns combined, making it the BOXBOY! game with the highest level count as of 2024.
• This game's shop is completely overhauled from previous entries in the series, not only in obtainable items but also its layout being an area the player can walk in rather than a UI.
• This game is the first mainline game to not include Spiky.
• This game is the first canon game to not take place during the events of the BOXBOY! trilogy.
  • The placement of this game is debatable, however - see Lore of BOXBOY! for further details.
• This game is the first (and only) BOXBOY! game which can be bought digitally from Humble Bundle and Amazon.
• This is the first mainline BOXBOY! game since BOXBOXBOY!BOXBOXBOY! to not contain Amiibo support.
• This is the first mainline BOXBOY! game to not be a part of the trilogy.
• This is the first mainline BOXBOY! game to not include Spiky.
• While Qbabies do show up in this game (albeit with a redesigned appearance), they do not show up in levels.
• Some of this game's songs (notably the Stage Clear and Balloon Challenge songs) are remixes of previous songs from the BOXBOY! trilogy.
• Unlike the previous 3DS entries in the BOXBOY! series, this game is intended to run at 60FPS rather than 30FPS.
  • However, many critics reported in reviews that the game frequently dipped significantly below this frame rate. This was mostly fixed in a patch released one day after the game's launch; however, some levels with bigger or more graphics-intensive areas still suffer from the lag even with the patch installed.
• This game was built using the Unity game engine as opposed to the custom engine used for the trilogy and many 3DS Kirby games.
  • This is not the first BOXBOY! game to use an engine different from the one used in the trilogy; the first is UNIQLO x BOXBOY!, which uses Cocos2d.
• As of March 27th, 2023, this is the only BOXBOY! title still available for purchase digitally.
• With the exception of the Qucy costume, this is the first BOXBOY! game in which Qucy is a playable character.
  • This is also the first BOXBOY! game in which Qudy is playable.

References

Games in the BOXBOY! Series
BOXBOY! trilogy ▪ ▪ Non-trilogy Mainline Games Demos ▪ ▪ Miscellaneous ▪ ▪ BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! Jigsaw Jumble