The "Peaceful Woods" was once a peaceful area for sprites and gentle creatures. After the invasion of Wario and his group of monsters, the forest community was "turned upside-down" where peaceful creatures are no longer welcome. To stop Wario, Toad arrives to stop him and return the Woods back over to the sprites by going after Wario himself.[1]
The objective of Wario's Woods is to clear the playing field of monsters of varying colors by using bombs of matching color, which are dropped into the field from the top of the screen by a sprite.[2] In order to do so, the monsters and bombs must be rearranged by the player such that three or more objects of the same color are placed adjacent to one another in horizontal, vertical, or diagonal rows, with at least one object being a bomb (such rows are called a "match"). For example, a match may consist of two red monsters and one red bomb, but may also consist of two red bombs and one red monster. However, a match cannot consist of three monsters of the same type. A Thwomp may also come down a number of rows (being disguised as the ceiling), making less room for the player to match enemies and bombs. When the play field is cleared of all the monsters, the player progresses to the next round, where the initial number of monsters increases.[nb 1] There are different monster types that can only be destroyed in specific ways, such as requiring two matches in quick succession or being placed into a diagonal match.[4]
Unlike other action puzzle games such as Tetris or Puzzle League where the player directly manipulates the game pieces, either as they fall or via a cursor, the player directly controls the character Toad, who moves around inside the playing field atop the fallen objects.[5] Toad can pick up individual objects or lift entire stacks and place them elsewhere in the playing field, but is unable to manipulate objects he cannot immediately reach. However, Toad can perform a variety of additional tricks, such as kicking objects across the play field and scurrying up the sides of stacks to retrieve specific objects.[nb 2][6] If the player cannot clear the playing field of its objects quickly enough, the play field will eventually fill to the brim and trap Toad, resulting in a Game Over.[nb 1][7]
The game has a multiplayer mode, called 'VS' or 'VS 2P', where the player can play against another player. In the multiplayer mode, players can make two or more matches after another to make a stack of enemies on their opponents field.
