BoxBoy![a] is a series of puzzle-platform games developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. The series centres around Qbby, a square-shaped character who can produce a string of connected boxes. The boxes are used to overcome obstacles in stages that Qbby must be guided through. The first game, BoxBoy!, released on January 14, 2015, in Japan on the Nintendo 3DS.[1] Its sequel, BoxBoxBoy!, was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016,[2] with a third game, Bye-Bye BoxBoy!, in 2017.[3] A physical compilation of the first three games, HakoBoy! Hakozume Box, was released in Japan. A fourth installment, BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!, was released for the Nintendo Switch in April 2019.[4]
BoxBoy! was developed by Japanese video game company HAL Laboratory.[5] It was a small experimental project in development while the studio was working on Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.[5][6] The project plan for BoxBoy! was conceived in July 2011 by employee Yasuhiro Mukae, who would later serve as the game's director. The game revolves around Qbby, a character who can produce boxes and use them to solve puzzles, move around, and press switches.
A sequel, BoxBoxBoy!, was released in Japan in January 2016,[7] and in other territories in June 2016.[8] This game introduces the concept of being able to summon two sets of boxes at once.
Bye-Bye BoxBoy! was released worldwide in 2017. It features boxes with special properties, such as exploding and warping, and Qbabies that Qbby must escort to the end of a level.
BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! is the fourth game in the BoxBoy! series and first to be released on the Nintendo Switch. BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! features a two-player multiplayer mode for the first time in the series, which was praised by critics. The game was released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch exclusively via Nintendo eShop on April 26, 2019.
