What? Geometry Wars is one of the top downloaded games on Xbox Live Arcade, and for good reason. This is a highly addictive game that has nothing to do with mathematics. It’s a throwback to 80s shootemups, and manages to be just as fun.

Why? Geometry Wars has this colorful modern game aesthetic, but keeps all the intrigue of the 80s arcade classic Asteroids. It also has an amazing soundtrack and great multiplayer modes (competitive and collaborative).

Who? It is a game that is easy to play, because it only requires you to use the Xbox’s two “joysticks” (so, no button pressing). This makes the game easy to play for young/old/new gamers, but mastering it is a feat that only the greatest gamers can achieve. Scalability is what separates good games from great games (easy to learn, difficult to master), and this IS a great game. Unfortunately, libraries won’t be able to add it to a loanable collection, because it is only available as a downloadable title for 360. This IS, however, THE game that every library with an Xbox 360 should download. There is a similar title, Geometry Wars: Galaxies, that is available for multiple gaming platforms. It is an inferior title, but still gets the basics of the fun game play and you can buy a physical copy for your school or library’s loanable collection.

Gameplay:

Remember Asteroids?