Unravel: Too Pure, Too Good

Mallory Dobry / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer ‘17

E3 2015 brought many huge game announcements and press conferences and featured many exciting, groundbreaking innovations in gaming.  Press conferences showed off gameplay footage from long-awaited titles like Fallout 4 — during Bethesda’s first ever E3 appearance —  and included the cryptic, but nonetheless exciting reveal of Mass Effect: Andromeda during EA’s, just to name a few exciting moments.

Amidst EA’s parade of big name action and sports games, we met Martin Sahlin, the creative director of Unravel, an indie puzzle game made by Coldwood Interactive, a small game studio in northern Sweden. Taking a break from the conventions usual boastful competition and frills, Sahlin introduced the world to Yarny and the world of Unravel, in an earnest and heartwarming reveal. On February 9th, 2016, Unravel received it’s worldwide release to the gaming public.

Unravel follows the adventures of Yarny – a small, red bundle of yarn – as he wanders far and wide, piecing together a lifetime of memories for his elderly owner. Yarny’s travels take him from the sea to the mountains to even a toxic waste dump, recovering mementos and memories to place back in a photo album for the old woman.

The game is simple in execution and charm. The player must use Yarny’s string to move forward and overcome the obstacles before them in their adventures, from using floating apples to create a bridge across water, to inventing little mechanisms and contraptions to open doors or move objects.

The mechanics are basic and smooth, allowing the player to use actions such as throwing yarn lassos, tying knots, swinging on yarn ropes, and jumping, all of which are introduced in a brief tutorial at the start of the game while immersing the player in the world and adventures. The game is easy enough for new gamers, or those who prefer a more casual play style, but complicated and challenging enough to satisfy regular gamers as well. While the game visuals are stunning, it doesn’t detract from the mechanics or the story, a common pitfall of many AAA games in the industry these days.

But perhaps the most powerful part of the game is how earnest it is. Unravel has few bells and whistles, and a universal and poignant story. It doesn’t need dramatic plot twists or complex arcs for the player to figure out as they play, and tells a bittersweet story without words. Unravel succeeds as a game because it’s not trying to be anything it isn’t, or outdo another franchise.

Unravel displays a purity and sweetness that sometimes lies below the surface of popular games. From the first moments of the game, it’s clear that Yarny and his adventures are going to be special. Somehow, Coldwater Interactive and EA have put out a game that makes it so incredibly easy to care about a tiny creature made of string, just trying to do some good. Unravel is the kind of game that sticks with the player long after they’ve finished it, as it offers a therapeutic and heartwarming video game experience, and proof that good things do come in the smallest and sweetest packages.