EA Playground review

As grown men, it's particularly hard to review games like this. Obviously, EA Playground isn't meant for anyone over 8, and any childless adult seen purchasing it should probably be reported immediately to local authorities. No one in our office was jumping over themselves to brush away Halo 3 and The Orange Box to collect stickers and marbles. But somebody had to review it. And guess what? It surprised us.

Playground is exactly what it's supposed to be, and it's damn good at it to boot. Trucking around the safe confines of schoolyards and recess grounds opens up a wealth of gameplay in short, sweet digestible bursts. During single player, you'll progress at your own leisure while playing handfuls of extremely polished and competent minigames. Whether we were racing Slot Cars or playing Dodgeball, every game was unsurprisingly easy to get into,and difficult to put down.

Sure the controls are as basic as you'd expect, but they're also deeper than you'd think. And you'll figure that out the longer you play, by earning stickers as rewards and marbles to put towards unlocking new moves and areas. Because these aren't your average minigames, no no. They can be enjoyed for minutes at a time, played in groups, and some even require you to master up to eight different methods of control.