'Katamari Damacy': Puzzle game gets sticky, but you'll have a ball

Become hopelessly addicted, confused or both.
By BILL HUTCHENS
TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE
Here's a game concept for you: The King of All Cosmos accidentally breaks all the stars in the galaxy, and he enlists the help of his son to replace them.
How? The prince visits Earth with a "katamari," a sticky ball he uses to roll a bunch of Earth junk into clumps that his father will hang in the sky.
That's "Katamari Damacy" for you, one of the strangest games in recent memory. Published by Namco (the Pac-Man people) for PlayStation 2, "Katamari Damacy" is a puzzle game at its core, a puzzle game that will leave you hopelessly addicted or thoroughly confused -- or maybe both.
Players take on the role of the prince and create little clumps of junk, using the katamari to pick up thumbtacks, paper clips, thimbles and such. As you collect the debris strewn about a small room, your spherical katamari grows. It's an awkward growth, especially if you roll over oblong objects.
The items you pick up stick out from the katamari, creating cluttered orbs that wobble and wiggle. As your katamari grows, you'll be able to pick up bigger objects. You might start collecting those small items and grow your katamari to a size that lets you roll up flowerpots and basketballs.
After you pass the first few inside areas, you'll get to roll around outside and pick up cars, animals, people, trees -- anything you can find that will fit on your katamari. Eventually, you'll be picking up aircraft carriers and skyscrapers.
The catches
There's a catch or two. You can't push your katamari into certain areas until it's big enough. For instance, you might be working on a small katamari of buttons and twigs when you notice that your room has no ceiling and there are more objects on top of one wall. Roll around some more, grow your katamari, and when you come back to that wall, you'll see that it's the bottom stair in a staircase that you can use to access a new area.
Another inhibitor is time. The king says he can only have faith in you for so long. He'll put a time limit on your rolling and then check in when time's up to see how you're doing. If you've rolled up enough junk to create the size of star that he asks for, he'll praise you for being a good son. If not, well, it's all darkness and rain as you disappoint his highness.
"Katamari Damacy" also has a great two-player mode in which participants race to grow their katamaris. When one player has a size advantage and rolls up the other player, the match is won.
You've got to admire Namco for pricing the game at $20.
X"Katamari Damacy," by Namco for PlayStation 2, is rated E for everyone.