Developer: Alterego Games
Publisher: StickyLock Studios
Platforms: PC, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Woven – Review
Ever seen a world entirely made of wool? Well, Woven will let you journey through a gorgeous colorful world where everything is made of wool. Playing as Stuffy, the clumsy stuffed elephant and his partner Glitch, the mechanical firefly, you’ll traverse through many different worlds with their own theme, accompanied by some great narration that really pulls you in. Let’s take a look at Stuffy and Glitch’s adventure in Woven on the Nintendo Switch.
Story
Woven is all about a woolen elephant called Stuffy who walks around the world of Woven where woolen creatures usually lived in peace. You start controlling him when he’s alone, but after a short while, you find Glitch, a mechanical firefly-like creature who lost his memory and identity. A lot of metal machines are spread out through the world of Woven, and Glitch can interact with these metal machines. Together, they continue their journey, trying to find out what these metal machines are doing in this woolen world and returning Glitch’s memories in the process.
One of the most interesting aspects of the story of Woven is the narrator with a very warm voice that will constantly accompany Stuffy and Glitch on their journey. He will talk in rhymes throughout the whole game, and many things he says are quite funny. One downside of the game is that when you approach an ending point of an area too close, it will automatically progress with a cutscene, forcing you to continue to the next area and you won’t be able to return. If you didn’t find all the collectibles in this area, you can’t get them anymore.
Graphics
Woven features a 3D open world where mountains, grass, trees, flowers, creatures and everything else are all entirely made of wool. The world is very colorful and also very detailed as you can see the wool-knitted patterns everywhere. This makes the world have a beautiful unique look. Your character, Stuffy, can be customized with knitting machines you find along your journey. After you’ve scanned new patterns and colors you find across the world of Woven, you can use them to customize Stuffy to your own liking. Other machines will give you a blueprint for Stuffy, allowing you to change what type of animal Stuffy will be. Stuffy starts as an elephant, but you will be able to change it to other animals like an anteater or a pig. Sadly, in handheld mode, the game looks kind of blurry. This is best noticed when checking out screenshots made in handheld mode when playing on your TV. They will look very blurry, while the game will look very clear on your TV, so the best visual experience is enjoyed in docked mode.
Sound
The music you hear in this game is mostly calm and jolly, which fits perfectly in this cute child-friendly game. The narrator in this game will talk constantly about what Stuffy and Glitch are doing. When they’re not progressing, he will mention positive things about flowers, or the environment. He has a very warm voice that is very pleasant to listen to. You can compare it to the warm voice of Morgan Freeman when he’s doing the commentary on one of the documentaries he talks in. The jokes he’ll make about Stuffy and glitch are pretty funny, and you won’t be bothered by him in any way. He will also point out the direction you should go for the progression of the game, so paying attention to what he says may let you discover paths other than the main path you should walk.
Gameplay
Woven is a puzzle adventure game in which you explore a world entirely made of wool as Stuffy, a slightly clumsy stuffed elephant. Stuffy is discovering the world of Woven in his travels and while finding new patterns and blueprints he’ll have to overcome obstacles with the abilities provided by these blueprints.
The gameplay of Woven is quite simple, you can walk around and interact with flowers, machines and other animals. On your journey, you will soon meet Glitch, a mechanical firefly that also offers some abilities to get further on your journey. Glitch can use his lamp to light up caverns, unveiling some beautiful wall paintings, scan animals and fabrics for their patterns and has the ability to control the mechanical machines found throughout the worlds of Woven to unlock new blueprints for Stuffy and apply these wit the knitting machine. You will acquire blueprints for Stuffy after finishing a musical puzzle. These blueprints offer the possibility to change the type of animal Stuffy will be. You can alter his arms, legs, and head separately from each other to combine certain abilities provided by these blueprints. With his original elephant body, Stuffy can only stomp on the ground, while other animal’s body parts will let him push items, jump over obstacles and more. Combining these body parts will certainly result in some funny combinations while providing a way through to the next area. Combining the patterns to the design of Stuffy can also lead to some nice or funny combinations.
You can’t really do anything wrong in this game. The game has a straight path you need to walk, mostly pointed out by a path in the grass or you get directed by the narrator to your next objective. One downside of the game is that you can’t run, to improve the speed of your progress. Stuffy isn’t quite the fastest elephant you’ve ever seen, so it would’ve been nice to have any quicker way of traveling, certainly when searching for patterns in the area.
The further you progress in the game, the more challenging the puzzles get in this game. With a few hints from the narrator, you’ll have to figure out what to do yourself to progress in the game. For example, to get past a specific point, you encountered a mechanical spider that you need to provide a ball of wool by stomping on the ground next to a tree. After the ball of wool has fallen down, this spider will use it to open the path for you.
Conclusion
Woven is a beautifully designed, child-friendly puzzle adventure that lets you explore a soft woolen world full of woolen animals and some misplaced mechanical machines and creatures on a journey of discovery. To be able to completely change Stuffy’s appearance, by changing his colors and by adding new animal parts, is a very unique and fun aspect of the game. The automatic progression of the game when you approach the end of an area and not being able to return to earlier areas can be quite frustrating for those who want to collect all the patterns. Woven is not only perfect for younger gamers, but it can also be a very enjoyable game for older players as the narration and the gameplay in combination with the beautiful world ensure a fun experience for young and old.
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