Unravel is the special kind of game that makes you think. Not just about how to beat the challenges it presents, but it also makes you think about your life and how you live it by using a simple character to communicate deep themes and storytelling.
On the surface, Unravel is a fun, physics-based platformer. Players take control of Yarny, an adorable anthropomorphic ball of yarn. Players must use Yarny’s threads to swing, climb, pull objects around, and interact with the environment to get from one side of each level to the other.
As a platformer, Unravel is slightly lacking. The levels are never very tricky, and Yarny only has a few special abilities in his arsenal. This means you rarely get stuck, as all you have to do is apply one of the small handful of abilities you have to any situation.
Because Yarny leaves a trail of yarn wherever he goes, he only has so much to use before he gets too thin and runs out. In these moments, you’ll have to retrace your steps and collect all your yarn back to either find an additional source of yarn, or make a more efficient path through the level.
Unfortunately, for each great gaming moment, there was a moment of frustration. Yarny uses his yarn as a whip, reaching out to points where he can latch on and swing over gaps or climb onto ledges. Often this works just fine, with you feeling like Spider-Man as you swing around.
However, you will also occasionally run into a problem where your rope will snap to a different point from the one you wanted. This will, at best, slow you down and force you to start over. At worst, you will end up dying over and over. Thankfully, the checkpoint system is solid enough where restarts are quick and you don’t get sent halfway back across the map.
While there’s little challenge, the levels are still laid out in interesting ways. Some of the puzzles are definitely creative and cool to look at, even if they aren’t particularly difficult to solve. Then again, after playing The Witness, maybe a simple game isn’t the worst thing.
As for the levels themselves, each one is truly gorgeous. The camera never strays far away from Yarny, often keeping the view pulled in tight. This is great, thanks to the insane level of detail found in Unravel.
While walking through the wilderness, each blade of grass and pebble is something to behold. When a small snake or bug crawls past, you’ll want to stop and watch. There are countless beautiful moments in Unravel, and you get to appreciate them all alongside Yarny.
While Yarny says no words during the whole campaign, and doesn’t even make any sounds, you can’t help but instantly fall for this little fuzzball. Yarny is very expressive, often showing amazement at some beautiful sight, or cowering in fear as a crow flies by. I couldn’t help but start to really care for Yarny, and wanted to make sure he got back home after every level, safe and sound.
It’s at home, which serves as a hub to access all of the levels, that you can piece together the overall story of Unravel . Each level features memories that Yarny collects, and when you return home, those memories manifest as pictures getting added to a photo album.
It’s at this point you realize that Yarny represents our lives and what ties them together. He’s the thread throughout our past, present, and future, and the thread that holds us to our family and loved ones.
Even if you don’t get invested in the story that Unravel presents, those themes can make you look inside at your own life, and the people in it. It’s all very powerful storytelling, considering no words are said, and the main character is a ball of yarn.
Unravel will be releasing tomorrow, Feb. 9 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
So what do you think? Are you excited to play Unravel for yourself? What other games tell a great story with minimal dialogue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
