Viva Piñata wins Game of the Year!  Don’t think so?  Well, after playing last night I can safely say that I wouldn’t be surprised if it does…not from numbers but for sheer addictiveness.  I managed to score the collector’s edition of Viva Piñata due to some well-timed trash talking at the Lost Planet event. (that’s another story I’ll get into later)  The collector’s edition is packaged very nicely.  I mean it’s just so cute really.  It has Horstachio, one of the characters in the game, on the cover in all his vibrant beauty.  I really like the way it was designed.  It comes with a bonus disk that I haven’t looked into yet.

So I trash talk, win the game, finish the event, and head home to play some Piñata.  I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having simply going through the tutorial process.  You start the game with Leafos, your guide, telling you the basics as you prepare to create your very own Piñata garden.  The controls are very easy to learn.  The selection menu is made of petals…how cute is that.  After you learn some things, you’re given this crusty shovel to prepare your garden for your very own Piñatas.  The shovel cuts the grass, gets rid of junk and hammers out unnecessary dry soil.  You can gather a host of items to make your garden beautiful and filled with different Piñatas.

You can name them, put labels on them, and even lead them to romance to make baby Piñatas!  Addictive?  Yes it is.  If not for having company at my house wanting to play some Gears of War, I would’ve been in my garden all night.  My very first Piñata to show some love to my garden was a Whirlm…I named it Deacawhirlm1.  It was my first visitor and resident so I wanted it to be special.  You can even share your own Piñatas with your friends across Xbox Live.  I’m sure there are going to be some wild creations out there.

I’ll get an official Unscripted review of this game up very soon after I play more…both on the show and one for you guys to read.  I love this game!  This game is everything I knew it would be and more.  I am a Piñatatan!

Who ya gonna trust?  Me, that’s who…because I’m trustworthy.