Now that my older girl is starting to reach an age where we can try and play some co-op games together, I'm constantly on the lookout for two player co-game puzzle or platformer games. I would really love it if she would go zombie hunting with me on Left for Dead or something like that... but I'm afraid that playing those sorts of games will likely end up with sleepless nights for the rest of the year!

One interesting little game that popped up for sale on the Nintendo Switch was Unravel 2. Released by EA (developed by ColdWood Interactive) in 2018 on PC and more powerful consoles, it only just made it's way to the Nintendo Switch. The little Switch handheld console is something that continually surprises me with the games that end up showing up in the store... Some really awesome games that you wouldn't have expected to be in a portable format even a few years ago!

The Story

There is very little in the way of a spoken or written narrative in Unravel 2... however, the story is shown rather than told. There is a shipwreck which strands our two Unravel yarn-balls (red and blue) into a beautifully rendered island. This is storytelling at it's best, there is no need for epic narratives or anything like that... everything is told in the subtle interaction between the two characters and environment, and heightened by a really quite supportive musical score.

Despite the fact that there are no words, this is really quite a touching way of showing a story!

The Game

At it's core, Unravel is a basic platformer with some interesting twists due to the yarn-like nature of the characters. It is designed to be completed from a single player perspective without needing to utilise both characters... and from this point of view, it is a beautifully rendered and scored platformer that is a touch too much on the simple side.

However, the game is really meant to be played in co-op... preferably on a couch with a skilled player and a less skilled one (or two friends....). You can use each other to help scale and surmount obstacles, or if it comes down to it, you can carry the less-skilled player to avoid getting frustratingly stuck on a particular spot.

For me, it has been a real pleasure to play this with my older girl... who has very little experience with platformers, but is a quick learner. I can show her how to do the jumps and swings and all of the usual platformer fare, but if she is struggling, then I can help carry her past the hard bits without taking her controller away from her!

However, like many co-op platformers (like Portal!), half the fun is watching each other try to do tricks and FAIL spectacularly! My girls find it absolutely hilarious when I miss jumps and fall back to the start!

Visuals, Sound and Performance

I always am on the look out for games that are also great from the presentation point of view. Good mechanics paired with great presentation makes for some really moving games! Unravel 2 is just amazingly beautiful to look at... and it is paired with a sound score that really tugs at the heart. The sound and music are these unusual things that you don't really notice too much... unless they are really done badly... or they are really done amazingly well! In this case, you notice how amazingly well it is done!

From the point of view of performance, despite the fact that this is a ported game, there was no problem running it from a first generation Nintendo Switch that was docked to a TV. I haven't tried it in the lower power handheld setting as it isn't the sort of game that I would want to play when by myself... it is really is a father and daughter game!

Conclusion

Unravel 2 is a beautiful game... a real treasure to experience from the point of view of visuals, sound and it's unspoken narrative! As a pretty hardcore gamer, it isn't really my cup of tea... I'm not that much of a fan of platformers! However, I do appreciate that not everyone (like my wife and girls) are really into RPGs or 1st person shooters... and as such, if I want to spend some quality gaming time with my children, then I will need to find some quality games that will really engage them!

Unravel 2 is one of these games... it is a great game for newcomers to gaming, it is beautiful, and the way it has been designed makes it a great game for parents to play with their kids! Or when my older child is older, it will be a great game for her to teach her younger sister!

Review Hardware

Played at Docked on:

Nintendo Switch (1st generation)

Splinterlands (aka the best blockchain game out there!)

Humble Bundle

Have you heard of Humble Bundle? It's a place to get some really great deals on Games, e-books and comic bundles. However, if you sign up for a Humble Bundle Subscription (12 USD per month) you get some really nice bonuses!

1. A 100+ USD bundle of games delivered direct to you each month, redeemable on Steam, Uplay or direct download (depending on the game). This includes recent Triple A games!
2. Access to the Humble Bundle "Trove", a list of 60 games (and growing...) which are free to play as long as you remain a subscriber!
3. Additional Discounts on the Humble Bundle store, with the choice of supporting charities, Humble Bundle or developers in whatever percentage that you wish!

Humble Bundle Subscriptions, it's a no brainer for the dedicated gamer!

_{Upgoats by ryivhnn
Account banner by jimramones}

_{The classical music community (Subscribe at Steem and Steempeak) at #classical-music and Discord. Follow our community accounts @classical-music and @classical-radio. Community Logo by ivan.atman}