With a formula that's simple but addictive, Katamari Damacy has earned a massive following for its quirky and innovative gameplay. You are a tiny prince charged with the task of rebuilding the majority of the solar system, which was recently destroyed by the King of All Cosmos while apparently on a drunken rampage. To accomplish this goal, you must gather enough material on Earth to replace each celestial body in turn. And the best way to gather material is by rolling it up, of course, in a wondrous ball called a "katamari" that happens to adhere to any object smaller than it.

Katamari Damacy runs through a series of time-constrained levels in which you must increase the size of your katamari to a predetermined diameter by rolling up as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Since you can only roll up objects smaller than yourself, the challenge comes in finding progressively larger items to roll up--but that are not too large. Katamari roll control is simple and done using only the analog sticks. The scale of the katamari varies immensely, and so do the areas of the world available to explore in parallel. You may find yourself picking thumbtacks up off the floor, only to later be ripping the very house off its foundation.

In addition to its unique gameplay, the quirky humor and stylized graphics lend themselves nicely towards Katamari Damacy's distinctive flavor. The King of All Cosmos serves the role of jovial narrator as he guides the prince through the game, but is a strict and demanding father, and will quickly turn on you should you fail a level. All the while he refers to himself using the "royal we," and speaks with a record-scratching sound effect. The game world itself features intentionally blocky and Lego-esque graphics, and is filled with a variety of whacky denizens who may attack your katamari or run from it, screaming for their lives. With a style as original as any, Katamari Damacy has rolled up the favor of gamers everywhere.