BOXBOY! (game)

This game is no longer available for purchase digitally due to the closure of the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS in March 2023.

BOXBOY! ハコボーイ!
Game Information
JP	ハコボーイ! (Hako Bōi!)
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release	JP: January 14, 2015 WW: April 2, 2015
MSRP	$4.99 £4.49 ¥680
Platform(s)
Mode(s)	Single-player
Genre	Puzzle-platform
Credits
Director(s)	Yasuhiro Mukae
Designer(s)	Tatsuya Kamiyama
Programmer(s)	Takashi Nozue
Sound	Jun Ishikawa Hirokazu Ando

BOXBOY! (JP: ハコボーイ!) is a 2D platforming puzzle game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the first installment of the BOXBOY! trilogy. It was released on the Nintendo eShop on April 2, 2015.

Characters

The player plays as Qbby, a square-shaped cube that can create boxes. The game also features two non-player characters: Qucy and Qudy.

Main article: Characters

Description

English (US)

Think outside the box to save a world in peril! Traverse tricky landscapes by creating boxes to help Qbby navigate more than 20 puzzling worlds. Just watch out—tons of obstacles stand in your way, so fortify yourself with a Shielding Afro or other boxy defenses. Then beat some more stages to earn sweet square costumes, like a superhero outfit!

After snaking your way through a plethora of levels, try taking on some challenges. Time attack will have you puzzle-solving your way through an assortment of levels as quickly as possible, giving you the chance to test your skills at creating box-shaped defenses. If that's not enough, Score Attack has you collecting as many tokens as possible within the time limit while using boxes to lift yourself up and maneuver around a huge stage. All the world's a puzzle and you're the only box boy boxy enough to save it!

English (UK)

Think outside of the box and solve puzzles aplenty in BOXBOY!, available exclusively from Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS family systems! In this 2D puzzle-platformer, use boxes to overcome obstacles and reach the goal at the end of each stage.

Meet Qbby. Qbby's a square character who can't jump very far or very high, but he does have one very special ability – he can create boxes out of thin air. Not only that, but he can generate multiple boxes at once and arrange them in different ways: in straight lines, in a step-like formation, you name it! Created shapes can be placed down or thrown to wherever they're needed. With this skill on his side, no situation can box Qbby in!

The number of boxes that Qbby can create at once changes depending on the stage, so be wary of your limits! Get creative with shapes to beat every stage – and with over 150 stages, you'll really need to box clever! You could build some steps to climb to new heights, string a bridge together to cross a chasm, hook onto things or activate contraptions. If you're walking into a dangerous situation, use your talent to form a shield and slip through safely.

If you're a brainbox, you can pick up a crown in each stage – they'll disappear once you use a set number of boxes, so efficiency is key! Good performances also earn you medals, which can be traded for goodies, such as costumes that can improve your abilities or extra challenges. If you're not happy with an attempt, use the instant reset function and start the stage again, or if you're really stuck, you can use Play Coins to get a hint on how to proceed!

Japanese

ハコを出すことができる主人公「キュービィ」を操作し、ハコを使って段差や穴、仕掛けなどのさまざまな障害を乗り越えて進んでいく、パズルアクションゲームです。まっすぐ積み上げたり、階段状に出したり、フックのように引っかけたり。ハコをどんな形で出して、どう使うかという、ひらめきが試される150以上のステージを収録しています。

Plot

Qbby falls from what appears to be the sky and lands to the right of a blacked-out box with his eyes shut, beginning the game. The World Map contains doors to new worlds that are inaccessible because of giant pits of Black Smoke blocking the way. When Qbby completes a World, he gains the power to make a giant box that repairs the pit and allows Qbby to cross over safely.

At the end of World 2, Qbby finds a button which he presses, making a Box Ship in the sky drop Qucy. Upon returning to the World Map, the game camera pans to reveal many doors leading to new Worlds, the Projector, the game's first machine, as well as the game's title card.

At the end of World 4, a similar cutscene to the one at the end of World 2 takes place, where the Box Ship drops Qudy.

Upon completing World 7, the Projector can be accessed. A cutscene takes place, revealing that a meteor has crashed into the Box Planet, corrupting the planet with Black Smoke. Upon reaching the first machine in the game, Qudy activates it, causing the world to start tilting. Qbby and Qucy ultimately reach the other side of the planet.

Upon reaching the final machine, Qbby gains power as usual, but a black smoke geyser suddenly breaks out of the ground. He uses his power to quickly create boxes to plug the geyser, turning him black. The geyser is plugged, and Qbby and Qucy activate the final machine. Their power restores the Box Planet to its former, black smoke-free self, ending the game.

Gameplay

Controls

Move	D-pad	Jump	B
Duck	Down (on D-pad)	Create	Y + D-pad
Throw (while holding box)	Y	Set Down (while holding box)	Y
Erase Box	X	Up Hook	Y (after connecting boxes to an object)

See: Abilities

Successors

In 2016, a second game for the series, BOXBOXBOY!, was released. This game allows Qbby to make two sets of boxes.

A third game, titled BYE-BYE BOXBOY!, was released in 2017. This title brings back the limit of having one set of boxes at a time, and introduces new powerups such as the Rocket Box and Bombox. The player also needs to escort the Qbabies, small box children, to the goal door.

A fourth game, titled BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!, was released in 2019. This title includes some new mechanics, mainly the 2-player co-op mode.

Gallery

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  The game's icon on the Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu.

Artwork

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  Qbby

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  Rapper Qbby

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  Ponytail Qbby

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  Superhero Qbby

Screenshots

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Trivia

• This is the first game in the BOXBOY! series.
• This is the only game in the BOXBOY! series to include the Projector.
• This game is no longer available for purchase digitally as a result of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U consoles' Nintendo eShop closing. It will still be redownloadable to those who previously bought it for the forseeable future, and it can still be obtained physically by purchasing Hakoboy! Stuffed Box secondhand.

Worlds in
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 The Last World Bonus Worlds Creative Combos

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