Last week, I had an opportunity to play some levels of Rooms: The Main Building for Wii, where you guide a character through interactive sliding puzzles. The game, which started life as a flash game, is also coming to DS in almost the exact same form.

From what I noticed while playing, it is a great game for all ages of people because it's modeled after sliding puzzles. Since children are most exposed to these puzzles, they are more familiar with them and therefore will find the game recognizable and tough. On the other hand, adults will be drawn to the game, remembering sliding puzzles of their youth and challenging themselves to be better at them now, despite decades of not playing this type of game.

The game does expand on the sliding puzzle theme by including a story that revolves around Mr. Book, who is literally a book and the butler of the mansion. He guides the player along, giving advice and providing in-game tutorials, but he is also the antagonist, since he is trying to trick someone into becoming the next Mr. Book, which would transform him back into his previous human-form.

Three mansions create the board for the game and house the 100 puzzling rooms. The pieces of the sliding puzzle can only be moved if the man is standing in them, and he must move around the pieces until he winds up at the level's exit. The point-and-click controls use only the Wii Remote and are simple to use, allowing the player to focus on the game rather than complicated controls.

There are some obstacles and aides along the way, including keys, ladders, telephones, and wardrobes. Keys unlock doors that block rooms from each other, and ladders enable the man to travel vertically through the puzzle. The telephones act as a transporter, moving the hero between two rooms that house phones. The wardrobes switch rooms, so the man stays in the same place on the puzzle but has the other room with the wardrobe behind him. There are more items as the game progresses as well, but I wasn't able to try those out. These items were effectively used in the game because they were necessary to complete the level, but didn't automatically clarify the puzzle right after using them.

The Wii and DS versions of the game are pretty much the same besides some presentation differences. The DS version makes use of the system's two screens, and also uses a stylus-based interface. Both versions have a level editor that allows players to make their own rooms. However, you can only share levels on the DS version. The Wii version also has a competitive two-player mode.

Rooms: The Main Building is available on Wii and DS and will be released on March 23.

See below for a trailer for the DS version: