Title: Unleaving
Developer: orangutan matter
Publisher: orangutan matter
Initial Release Date:  March 27th, 2024
Available On: Steam
Reviewed On: Steam Deck

I swung by orangutan matter’s booth at PAX East 2023 to play the early demo for their hand-painted puzzler adventure game, Unleaving. A little over one year later, Unleaving is now released into the world, and I’m here to share my experience in this review.

Trigger Warning: Unleaving contains abstract portrayals of what could be interpreted as depression and death of self.

SYNOPSIS

The story of Unleaving focuses on a small child, lost and hopeless, who hears whispers from a lone leaf. Soon, a moth springs to life. Intrigued, the child follows this moth into wild, imaginary worlds where meaning and understanding are explored.

Does this sound abstract? It should. Unleaving is a type of game where the story and theming cannot be summarized in a few short sentences. It isn’t meant to. Each new hand-painted landscape presents little puzzle pieces for you to collect and interpret as the player, and if you’re still feeling a little lost, the game asks you reflective questions such as: Why are you here? What do you search for? What dulls your fears? And what is inside you?

Unleaving does include dark themes such as loss and depression. The way the game is paced leaves the player to explore and dwell on the color palette, music, and symbolism in each “painting” level.

ANALYSIS

Gameplay

At its core, Unleaving plays a lot like Limbo, Inside, and even Gris. This is a 2D side scrolling adventure where you solve puzzles to progress. Most puzzles here are physics-based. For example, you need to utilize the weight of boxes to hoist yourself onto a ledge or time the momentum of a swing to hurtle yourself to safety.

The first area is quite simple and easy to master as you immerse yourself in this fantastical world. With each additional level (or landscape), the puzzles adjust to the theme, and they become quite challenging. Many puzzles require trial and failure and lots of patience. I had failed several times, and at first, I felt awful and frustrated, but when I looked at the achievement list, “Zen: death in every possible way” told me that this game almost expects you to cut your teeth as part of the experience.

Two of my favorite puzzle sequences were an underwater area where you need to utilize electricity and magnets and utilizing your reflection to cross seemingly impossible chasms (below).

Art and Sound

If I were to make the argument that video games are art, Unleaving would be a primary example. While there are many hand-drawn games out there (which are all amazing), the art is integrated into the experience. Each area has its own color palette, showering the player with a specific mood.

One that stuck me to me was the “circus” environment. There were mounds of black and white discarded toys. It almost felt like an abandoned childhood or innocence. Then you come across what seems like bits of a broken-down circus, which–despite the light fun colors–left me feeling unsettled and creeped out. This is a wonderful example of art style navigating the gaming experience.

Sound is a mix of music and ambiance. It is well balanced as to not distract from the experience. The trickling of water to the clicking of chains…those moments stick out more than gratuitous music for music’s sake. Like with the art style, sound works synergistically to enhance the experience.

FINAL SCORE

I was thoroughly impressed with Unleaving. The quality of the art and creativity behind the execution of the puzzles were brilliant. When on the Boss Rush Podcast, I explained how the emotional pull of Unleaving felt a lot like Devolver Digital’s Gris, and yet, orangutan matter has crafted their own identity. And although the game is short, it was one that left me thinking about it for hours after.

Sometimes the puzzles required a level of precision that may hinder some people from feeling true immersion at times, but as long as patience and the expectation of trial and error are set, it should not detract from its quality.

I recommend this game for those that want a true experience of art in video games, for the person that enjoys mulling over the abstract and the existential.

Thank you, orangutan matter, for releasing such a beautiful game!

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Featured Image Credit: orangutan matter