Wattam

Its charming visuals and messages of compassion and cooperation make Wattam a great game to play with younger members of the family.

Wattam is a weird and wild fever dream of a game, but it’s the most enjoyable fever dream I’ve ever had. Its loop of using ridiculous, anthropomorphic characters to complete simple tasks in order to gather more ridiculous, anthropomorphic characters succeeds thanks to the silly and fun situations it puts you in, even if it’s not the most complex or challenging loop to begin with. I can’t help but feel like some of the most interesting ideas Wattam uses to shake things up aren’t fully explored, but being a part of this friendly world, however briefly, is a true joy.

I'm not sure if Takahashi will ever be able to top Katamari Damacy – for my money, it's one of the greatest video games ever made – but Wattam captures that sense of whimsy and magic in its own way. The care-free music and gosh-darn-huggable character designs make this a must-play for fans.

Wattam uses a combination of light gameplay and love-it-or-leave-it humour I associate with Keita Takahashi and like, but it's more of a Noby Noby Boy 2.0, a game so simple and nonsensical it sometimes makes you wonder what the point is. If his previous games weren't for you, this one, perhaps a humorous experiment more than anything, certainty isn't going to change your mind. While this and the technical issues prevent from unreservedly loving it, I still enjoyed Wattam, simply for delivering emotionally, if not on a technical level.