No word of a lie: I’ve been excited about Billy Bumbum: A Cheeky Puzzler since seeing it as the subject title in an email, before opening the email, before reading about it, and before watching the trailer. It didn’t matter: it was an amusing title for a simple, toilet-raised mind.
It was on a school run that the email popped up (no, there won’t be vulgar references here, thank you). I told my daughter the name, and we chuckled, then teased her friend, Will. You have the same name so you will forever be known as William Bumbum, or Billy B for short.
Alright, you didn’t click this link to hear about the school run, nor (I hope) did you come here to see rude pictures. Billy Bumbum: A Cheeky Puzzler is a 3D block puzzle game from Frambosa and Bonus Stage Publishing where Billy has to save his friends by aiming his bum through a portal and releasing a friendship cloud onto their heads. Sexy, huh?
Despite having a block with a very superior set of buttocks, enemies that look like buttplugs and ride floating tits, this is far from a Viz saucy panel and more suited to family play if you don’t mind the crudeness. As I said, we already chuckled at the title, but(t) when watching Billy roll through each stage plonking his backside in what resembles an ethereal poo pothole was the real winner, as was farting as a line of defence.
Billy will roll over blocks to reach the portal, but they have to be in a position where their final move lands on their arse-end; otherwise, it won’t work. He’ll backtrack over other tiles to line himself up instead. The only issue with this is that the blocks underneath him, excluding some ‘special’ blocks, will disappear. So, there aren’t limited moves in the conventional sense, though you’ll have to manage the environment to reach the goal: farting on a friend.
Besides the floor disappearing under your cheeks, there are various environmental hazards to block with your tooter or manipulate other blocks to create new paths. Without any time limit or move set, this makes Billy Bumbum: A Cheeky Puzzler a mostly chill experience. However, as far as I can tell, there is only one solution per stage and with zero hints, and some stages can be mind-boggling. Fortunately, you can approach multiple levels simultaneously and out of sequence.
On that (bum) note, Billy Bumbum: A Cheeky Puzzler has 250 levels set over five biomes, the first being Bunda Cliffs. Roadmen will identify with the terminology. Without any timers or restrictions on your moves, the gameplay has the bonus of having a reset button AND undoing a move one at a time without penalty. Like the recently released Snakebird Complete on the Switch, this is a must for puzzle fans.
Billy Bumbum: A Cheeky Puzzler is a crude, cute and colourful title that’s humour is better suited to those who titter when someone does a blow-off or chuckles at the sound of a chair leg squeaking and sounds like a fart. Harmless stuff. But(t) the focus here isn’t on the bright display of affection Billy has for his mates and his dragon(!) mama or his magical tooter: it’s the excellent puzzles that will bring a smile to your face as much as stifling a fart in the lift when you’re the perpetrator. Thankfully, the puzzles last longer, too.
