Coming Summer 2019 from Brainbox.cc, Mr. Boom’s Firework Factory is a fast-paced puzzle game where memorization and quick thinking see the player through each level. The player takes on the role of a merchandise handler under the employ of the eponymous Mr. Boom. Each level players are expected to arrange conveyor belts on the fly to not only deliver each package to the end but to also do it in the order that Mr. Boom requires.
Each level players are shown both the order of the next few crates and also the order they’re required to be delivered. A yellow crossed loading zone indicates where packages need to be sent to be picked up. Meanwhile, packages can be ejected from multiple openings, the order of which is indicated by a red flashing light above it. A crucial part of most puzzles is creating safe spots where crates are merely shunted back and forth between two junctions. This effectively holds them so the crates can be delivered in the desired order. The real challenge lies in creating these safe zones while leaving enough space to move the next crate.
Visually, Mr. Boom’s Firework Factory has a functional art style that’s quirky when it’s allowed to be. The character Mr. Boom, unlike the rest of the game, is a cheerfully drawn character while the more practical graphics are smooth and detailed. The claw arm that delivers the packages, as well as the conveyor belts themselves, aren’t jarring to look at and fit in naturally with the background of the warehouse.
The stages in Mr. Boom’s Firework Factory are difficult to manage, at least after stage two. The first few stages seem simple enough and are a good introduction to the mechanics. But the difficulty drastically jumps up in stage three and stage four. With stage four seemingly requiring power-ups gained by perfectly completing prior stages to complete. The requirement of power-ups that are unnecessary to collect for completion —as stages can be finished imperfectly— is tedious since it requires going back and completing a prior stage perfectly just to have another chance at progressing.
In its present state, Mr. Boom’s Firework Factory has a frustrating amount of bugs and glitches. At times when attempting to retry a level, crates will eject at different times than they did before, perhaps continuing the pattern from the attempt you just quit. Sometimes when pausing the game will become impossible to interact with after hitting continue, the only solution being to restart it entirely.
As of now Mr. Boom’s Firework Factory is a fun game but lacks a certain quality of life features and is waiting on bugfixes. Which makes sense as the game is currently in closed beta and many things can change before its release this summer.
Players interested in Mr. Boom’s Firework Factory can wishlist it on Steam before release, and can visit the game’s site for updates.
