Developed by Coldwood Interactive and published by Electronic Arts, Unravel is a downloadable puzzle platforming game that features a yarn-based hero called Yarny who has to use the unraveling bits of yarn falling off his body to traverse various in-game obstacles.
How to Download Unravel
You can download Unravel from the Origin store. To start, simply click on the Download link which is located at the end of this review.
The Game Review
First announced in 2015, the game was eventually released a year later as a single-player experience to rave critical reviews. The recent announcement of a sequel seems to verify tales of the first title’s commercial success.
Unravel’s gameplay style bounces back and forth from traditional Mario-esque platforming to more puzzle-themed interludes.
The environments Yarny is plopped into largely resemble those found in the real world but with everything much larger due to the relatively small size of Yarny in comparison. This gives the game a feel somewhat like Little Big Planet in terms of graphics and gameplay as well. The kinds of everyday items that Yarny will make use of to solve the puzzles that stop his progress also hearken to this inspiration somewhat.
Though yarn from Yarny’s body is the main way he interacts with the world there are other physics-based puzzles here and there as well as environmental items that Yarny can use.
As one would expect, Yarny cannot be made out of infinite amounts of yarn and the player will have to refill this by collecting balls of red yarn found in the stages. This gives yarn use a tactical element: Use too much and you could be stuck.
Specifically, this mechanic was not meant to stymie player efforts so much as it was to make them aware of the novel ways the yarn can interact with the environment. Players can retrace their steps in yarn and are encouraged to explore new spaces. This is a shift from most puzzle games which try to keep the focus squarely on the puzzles.
There is a story behind all of this, of course, but it is a take-it-or-leave-it tale that could strike some as touching, others as cliche or trite. None of that really matters because, at its core, Unravel is a solid game built upon interesting mechanics and tight controls. It’s hard to fault the game in any one area outside of some puzzles being a little too difficult and the narrative a little too weird at points.
It’s all meant to be touching but it is really secondary to what is an amazingly tight game. A couple of complaints could be lodged about not getting to know Yarny as a character nor really getting any other exposure to his world. It’s as if Toy Story was transformed from a motley cast to a monologue with only Woody on stage. Unravel would benefit greatly from having its world fleshed out a little bit more.
