🍦 An emotional journey about ice cream and poop. 💩

December 17, 2019 9:29 AM

Wattam is a touching, whimsical playground from the creator of Katamari [The Verge] “It’s difficult to explain what Wattam is and also make it sound interesting. The latest release from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, Wattam is a whimsical adventure about... well, it’s kind of hard to say. There are puzzles, and there’s a story, but mostly, Wattam is about playing around with 100 anthropomorphized creatures and objects, and seeing what happens when you mix them together. It’s about letting your inner child loose and experimenting. It’s playful in the extreme. But instead of feeling aimless, the result is freeing in a way that’s increasingly rare in video games. And it’s all wrapped up in a surprisingly touching world and story. It’s a game about playing with virtual toys, but by the end, Wattam might make you tear up a little.” [YouTube][Game Trailer]

• Wattam: a Takahashi joint through and through [Eurogamer]

“Keita Takahashi remains singularly unconcerned with concepts such as target audiences and player retention. When asked what he's aiming at with his games, the answer is, simply, "fun". Subsequent questions are likely to be met with a shrug. In light of this, the story of Takahashi's hit Katamari Damacy feels like a happy accident, precisely because he embodies the spirit of an independent creator unbothered by commercial constraints. Takahashi designs small experiments, brightly coloured toys limited in function, but fun in the moment. Easy to pick up and put away. It's a mindset he shares with Funomena, who collaborated with him on Wattam and who make games such as Luna and Wooorld with the same colourful, inclusive appeal. Wattam feels like a collection of the things Takahashi found fun in the moment, several simple elements loosely connected by a theme.”

• Wattam Is Complete Nonsense And I Love It [Kotaku]

“It’s difficult to explain what exactly is going on in the game without walking someone through it step-by-step. It’s a constantly expanding puzzle, each step spawning new friends, new lands, new seasons. Each new item is a new character for the player to control. These silly, sentient items each bring their own unique abilities and challenges to the world of Wattam. A telephone loses its receiver in the sun and begins to cry, and the player must try to stack up characters to try and reach the thieving celestial orb. A piece of sushi loses its fish eggs, which it calls its children, turning the mayor into a hard-boiled detective, questioning other bits of sushi as to the roe’s whereabouts. Solving Wattam’s challenges and puzzles slowly fills in the world with new areas.”

• Wattam’s the Brighter, Happier Game About Connecting Everybody [Siliconera]

“Basically, Wattam is the video game equivalent of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Because Nose sniffs out Acorn. Acorn plants themselves in the hole. Circle dancing with some of the available individuals around the tree sprout brings back your first tree. The tree inhaling individuals like Mayor and Yellow Flower turns them into food like Onion or Meat. This attracts the Table intermediary, who brings new friends like Mouth back. If Mouth eats food, they become poops, which makes the Toilet return with the smaller Toilet and Pipe and triggers the “A Toilet’s Duty” quest. [...] Wattam resonates in a very pleasant way. We have some pleasant characters in a very silly world dealing with an unfortunate situation as best they can. People try to help each other out, each using their own unique abilities to solve situations in occasionally unconventional ways. You’ll watch a world grow in front of you, one that is colorful and inviting. It is as pleasant as possible.”

posted by Fizz (8 comments total)

Awesome, I was just thinking about this and wondering when it would come out. I hope it's not $80 though.

I loved loved loved Katamari and still listen to the soundtracks.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:43 AM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Appropos to the article title, Takahashi does design actual playgrounds and at one point was considering retiring from video games to create them full time.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:53 AM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

I hope it's not $80 though.
posted by seanmpuckett

Considering preorder was $17, I doubt it'll be that expensive!
posted by Grither at 11:16 AM on December 17, 2019

This looks like the perfect game to play with my kids! I'm getting pretty bored with Donut County and Overcooked is a bit too difficult for them yet.
posted by wilberforce at 12:54 PM on December 17, 2019

Gonna get this game next week to play during my annual "I'm alone in the house over Christmas" while my housemate goes to be with his parents. (My family visit time is Thanksgiving.) This happens every year, I'm all, oh god please give me game recs to occupy me while you're gone because everyone else is out of town too and I'm gonna be SO BORED and annoyed at Christians, and he's all either "I dunno, all the good games are shooters/will frustrate you" or one excellent year "Play Breath of the Wild", but this year he popped up in the kitchen the other day and said "I know what game you should get for when I'm gone: Wattam" and I was like "wassat" and he was like "the new thing by the katamari guy" and i was all "oh, okay then!"

Considering that it's $20 though, it will probably last me like two days and I'll be staring down the rest of the week with no absurd friendship puzzles. I'm trying to avoid spoilers, as it were; does anybody have an idea about the approximate playtime?
posted by Mizu at 2:53 PM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

I just got it. It seems to chug along on my laptop though. I saw a review that suggests playtime to finish was about six hours.
posted by JHarris at 7:48 PM on December 17, 2019

Stoked. Regardless.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:55 PM on December 17, 2019

[eyes brand new Switch I'm giving my kid for Christmas]
[crosses fingers for a Switch release]

This looks goofy and joyful and like complete utter nonsense and I am so here for it
posted by Maaik at 8:07 AM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]