Unravel gameplay trailer demonstrates puzzle-solving with yarn

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Unravel is a puzzle-platformer in which you'll become a creature made entirely of yarn—and yes, I'm talking about the stuff that's more traditionally used for knitting sweaters. It's entirely physics based, and everything behaves in a realistic fashion--within the limits of a videogame, naturally. The core challenge, as this new gameplay video illustrates, is that Yarny, your stringy alter-ego, begins the game tied to something, and the farther away you get from it, the more you unravel.

Yarn isn't just your lifeline, it's also a multi-purpose tool that can be used as a grappling hook, a bridge, a tether, or a swing. “The gameplay really is like a sandbox,” developer Coldwood Interactive says in the video. “It's easy to interact with on a basic level, but it lets you do really powerful and complex things.”

Unravel also appears to be quite a lovely game, with a “heartwarming” message, despite what I'm guessing will be a fairly obvious commentary on the fragility and creeping inevitability of mortal existence. Unravel is being published by EA, and will thus launch on Origin on February 9. Find out more, including how to make your own real-life Yarny, at unravelgame.com.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.