De Blob was a small school project for a group of students at Utrecht University (Netherlands) that was picked up by THQ and made into a commercial title for the Wii. Fortunately, the original PC version is freeware!

De Blob lets you take control of (surprisingly) a blob-like alien that absorbs and disperses paint. It's a lucky coincidence that the inhabitants of the planet you have just crash landed on are made up entirely of paint!

You are tasked with evading the planet's local defense agency (INKT) while painting the town with various colors. Most of the buildings can be painted any color you absorb from the townspeople, however, some of the larger buildings require specific colors. Here's where the main game mechanic comes in: you have to mix primary colors to achieve the correct color you need.

That sounds easy at first, but when you finally get the color you need for the building you're after, it now becomes a game of avoiding the rest of the wandering inhabitants that may mess up your paint combination. Oh, and water can mess it up too!

There are also coins scattered around the city that you can pick up for more points and a special bonus if you collect them all.

The controls are completely mouse driven, which can get very frustrating when you start to run out of room on your mousepad. The camera is also very finicky, which is really the main source of difficulty for de Blob. However, the cute and cartoony graphics and sound effects negate any amount of annoyance that was building up inside me.

Overall, de Blob is a fantastic game and it's no surprise why the idea was picked up by a major gaming company. However, its short length and bad camera keep it from receiving a perfect score.