Descent into Huggable Madness

Elebits is my new guilty pleasure. Matt gave it to me as part of a Christmas bundle of gaming crack, and it has grown to consume my Wii time, nudging Wii Sports, Zelda, and Rayman out of the warmth of the nest to chill and wither on my media shelves. I'd considered Elebits a girl game, full of cute music and adorable pastel mini monsters. In fact, the first couple times Matt suggested it as a gift I threw it back in his face, stomped my foot, and crossed my arms in virtual defiance over email. However, now that I have it, I've discovered the disturbing aggro subtext of the game.

See, your mission in the game is to collect elebits, little electricity spirits hidden in cabinets and appliances around your house. You do so with your "capture gun," a device that allows you to zap elebits a la Ghostbusters and also move objects, pull open drawers, put toast in toasters, and turn doorknobs. You start each gingerly nudging things aside to reveal elebits because your capture gun begins life with anemic abilities. As you collect elebits, your gun strength gets greater until peeking becomes searching becomes ransacking becomes RAMPAGING. It's a huggable descent into madness and frenzy.