Crush, much like Nintendo's Paper Mario series, explores the mind-bending possibilities of living in multiple dimensions. The game takes place within the complex psyche of Danny, an insomniac with exceptionally poor taste in health-care providers. Zany headshrinker Dr. Reubens fits Danny with an experimental gizmo that translates the subconscious into complex mazes. Clad in a bathrobe, like The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy's Arthur Dent, Danny must traverse and conquer these dreamy constructs. Peppered throughout his mental labyrinths are Kafka-esque roaches, lost marbles, and puzzle pieces of memories—all standard issue video-game features, until the game's "crush" mechanic comes into play. Danny's three-dimensional mind mazes can be viewed at any angle, then smashed flat, compressing distances, smashing troublesome insects, and revealing new ways to achieve seemingly insurmountable tasks.
Crush satisfies the innate gamer need to express the world in easy-to-manipulate numbers and objects. Simultaneously, it plays with form. Like The Wizard Of Oz's jump from black and white to color, it targets a technological sea change (in this case, the leap between old-school 2D graphics and modern 3D) and exploits it in a wildly imaginative way.