Right from the start Woodo is delightful and charming with its art style and the 3D diorama wooden block puzzle scenes. We're introduced to Foxy a cute little fox who is telling the story of a Summer she spent in the countryside, something she was not used to and about her friend Ben. The hand drawn pictures are adorable and feel like a children's story book adding to the lovely whimsy of Woodo.
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| Foxy and Ben. |
Even the puzzle map is set up like a 3D diorama with it starting out blank and as you finish each puzzle, the map slowly becomes colored in. It's a smart choice to show which story puzzles you've completed and which ones are waiting to be solved. The first puzzle is a tutorial of sorts showing how to choose a puzzle piece and snapping it into place essentially coloring in the diorama scene laid out before you. Foxy narrates the story as you complete each part of the puzzle. It's beautifully creative and some of the scenes made me chuckle like Foxy getting chased by geese and a goat.
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| Foxy runs from geese. |
Each scene is Foxy's memories of that Summer and I enjoyed putting the pieces in place and listening to her story of feeling out of place because she was from a big city and the countryside was a whole different vibe for her. I enjoyed listening to Foxy tell her story as she slowly comes to realize that different doesn't necessarily mean bad and starts finding things that she loves about this new area and makes some great Summer memories. The puzzles start to get a little more complex as you go, like having to open drawers to find a puzzle piece or clicking on a small area that will take you inside to a smaller puzzle, puzzles within puzzles. It keeps things fresh and interesting and I was having fun with the game the entire time. Another thing I enjoyed was the stories within the story. When you finish a puzzle, you unlock a short story about some of the characters mentioned in Foxy's story. These are done like little storybooks and again the art for it is cute and adds to Woodo's charm.
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| A cute little story about a mouse. |
Each puzzle offered its own unique perspective and as the complexity progressed with each one, I found sometimes it was a bit of a challenge, but nothing too frustrating. A big part of that is Woodo's accessibility settings. You can adjust the settings to make the hint timer cool down faster which I appreciated because there were a couple of places I got stuck and being able to use a hint really helped. You can also tweak the settings to make it more challenging if you wish and there is a colorblind mode as well. The music throughout Woodo is lovely and matches the mood of each moment in the story perfectly. The storytelling, gameplay, and music all blend together well creating a wonderful game that takes you on a lovely and emotional journey. I did cry a little at the end because of the beautiful sentiment about connection, enjoying the moment, appreciating being in the moment with the people we love, and the promise of seeing each other again. Woodo isn't a long game about six hours long, but that's not a bad thing. It stays long enough to make an impact with the story and doesn't overstay its welcome. I enjoyed it immensely and I was happy to experience such a relaxing heartwarming story full of wonder and whimsy.
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A cute finished puzzle in Woodo.
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*Woodo is available on the following platforms: Steam, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2
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