Physics-based games featuring animals seem to be all the rage on smartphones lately. From the ubiquitous Angry Birds to Bouncy Mouse and Dragon, Fly! people just can’t get enough of them.

One game that just entered the Android Market features less furry but equally adorable blobs of slime. In World of Goo, the player takes the role of goo architect, using blobs of goo to create structures to reach the end of each level.

World of Goo earned high acclaim since it became available for download on the Nintendo Wii in 2008. Its style of game play seemed perfectly suitable for the translation to touch screens and it has adapted seamlessly.

I downloaded the free demo version of World of Goo, (the full version costs $2.99). Even in the demo, the production quality of this game is apparent. Cinematic cut scenes help introduce each level and the game play graphics don’t disappoint either, running as smoothly as a slick goo spot.

The first couple of levels introduce the idea of stacking the goo balls into a structure to reach a pipe that collects them at the end of a level. Each level requires a different number of blobs and players can earn bonus points by exceeding that amount.

After those introductory levels, the game introduces new types of goo-like balloons that help lift your goo structure higher. New obstacles are introduced, like spiky chasms that threaten to consume the goo and a narrow chute to build inside of. 

Even in the demo version I found the game’s difficulty to steadily increase between levels. Every new concept introduced requires the player to think in a new way, making each time I completed a level to feel rewarding. I liked this challenge more than games that simply increase the number and speed of enemies while repeating the same game play.

World of Goo has a quirky atmosphere that makes it apparent that the designers spent a lot of time crafting the world around the goo. The graphics are better than most smartphone games and the cinematic cut scenes are something I haven’t seen before in any comparable game.

The music is also very well done. There were times when I was playing and felt like the music could easily be part of the soundtrack to a major motion picture.

Just from playing the demo version of World of Goo, I can say the $2.99 price tag for the full version is well worth it. I also got a sense of why the Wii version received so much praise.