Welcome to the first edition of Jeffrey Matulef’s new column, Challenging Conventions. This week Jeffrey takes a look A Boy and his Blob, and how something as simple as a hug can challenge conventional game design.

Way Forward’s recent remake of classic NES puzzle platformer A Boy and his Blob tells the story of a boy befriending an alien blob as they try to save its world. All the boy can do is walk and jump, so he relies on the shape shifting blob to solve a variety of puzzles, as it can turn into things like a ladder, anvil, or parachute.

The game’s most interesting feature, however, is that at any point you can hug your blob companion with a simple press of the D-pad. It’s certainly a strange action to dedicate an entire button to, especially given its lack of practicality. It’s that lack of purpose, though, that defines it amongst its more goal-driven, violent competition.

Who knew a blob could be that cute?

The obvious benefit of the hug button is that it’s ridiculously adorable. It helps establish a connection between the titular boy and blob in a way seldom seen in gaming. After all, the blob saves your life throughout the entire game, so you do feel like giving the little bugger a hug every once in awhile.

Furthermore, the hug button sticks out because of just how rarely we see affection in gaming. Just think how many people or creatures you’ve killed in games over the past year compared to how many you’ve hugged. In most games you’re tasked with saving the day by means of violence. But in A Boy and his Blob, you’re largely meant to avoid enemies, rather than harm them. The vast majority of the game’s interaction is benevolent.

The hug button’s downside is that it’s the same animation every time, and once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it all. Dedicating a whole button to this could easily be seen as overkill.

Besides, having a hug button makes getting a hug too easy. In games like Half-Life 2 and Metal Gear Solid 2 the characters do embrace, but you cannot control when this happens, making it all the more special when it does. Just imagine if you could make Alyx hug you at any time during Half-Life 2; it would get old fast and simply feel silly. One reason it works better in A Boy and his Blob is that the characters don’t speak, so physical interaction is all they have. As such, it doesn’t feel out of place to have them hug whenever.