DrinkBox Studios, the small Canadian developer, has an interesting title heading to PSN early next year. While it showed up at E3, it was hidden amongst other titles and didn’t get the exposure it’s due. But last weekend at PAX, I had a chance to put some solid time into two different levels of their upcoming title Tales from Space: About a Blob.

DrinkBox grew from three people, up to six and finally to around ten people these days, and they have experience with a wide variety of titles. Members of the team have worked on some AAA racing titles such as Full Auto.

About a Blob works with some similar mechanics to Katamari Damacy, but in a two dimensional plane. You’re an alien who has landed on an earth-like planet and put in jars in a lab, but after escaping you begin absorbing items smaller than yourself in order to grow bigger and bigger (and bigger). You’re not malicious, that’s just how you roll. In the lower left corner, you’re given a size goal and once you hit it, you’ll be able to absorb or move whatever obstacle was keeping your smaller self from progressing. In the first level available to demo at PAX, “Secret Lab,” we were absorbing aspirin tablets and other small items in order to get big enough to pull up a drain cover and escape into the next section. The game is fully based around these road blocks to progression.

Your blob gains three different special powers as you progress through the game. The first one available to you is the ability to shoot out any objects you’ve already absorbed. This is useful for weighing down any balance puzzles or hitting high up switches. Anything you’ve absorbed also becomes inexplicably linked to you, so with the press of a button you can reabsorb any items that you’ve spit out. Next up you gain a magnetic ability with which you can attach yourself or repel yourself from objects that give off a purple hue. You must switch between abilities to change from shooting things to magnetizing things. This way you can push certain objects or give yourself an extra boost upwards by attaching yourself to magnetic objects above you. The third power was locked during the demo and DrinkBox were tight-lipped on what the power might be.

Each level has a certain number of “blob friends” that you can find. They’re generally hidden slightly off the beaten path and are mostly a collection element that might nab you a few trophies come release.

The “Secret Lab” level was quite easy, but a nice introduction to the game and playing co-op. DrinkBox hasn’t finalized the full amount of players, but it might go up to four by the time the game releases. Next up to demo a section later in the game was a level called “Power Plant.” This level was full of more puzzles, involving rotating tubes, timed shots and weighted platforms. The most amazing thing I noticed was the sheer difference in size you gain as you play through the area. You start off about the size of a person, but by the end the game has zoomed out so subtly that you’re much, much bigger. I asked about the last levels in the game and by that point you’ll be absorbing entire buildings.

You don’t technically have lives in the game, but if you die you’ll restart at one of the checkpoints you’ve hit along the way. The game has around fifteen levels and is aiming for a release in early 2011, ideally January. It’s currently a PSN exclusive, but there is a potential of a PC port sometime thereafter. We had a lot of fun playing the game’s co-op mode, so the more platforms that the game can reach the better.