Game Thoughts - WooLoop by ToastieLabs

I put this in the wishlist one time (dunno why, really, when it's free) and then saw it again while looking for more free games. I thought, why not try it?

I'm not sure if we're going to make a video about it or not, but I figured it's worth talking about it a bit. Also, this is not to be confused with the Pokemon of a similar name. - Kochi

What's It About?

Just like Picma, this is one of those games where you make pictures by following certain patterns and rules. For this game, it's basically following the on-screen instructions as you wrap yarn around pins. Of course, it's going to be digital, not a physical thing, just to note, although you could probably do it with actual pins and yarn.

I haven't seen any other video game that does the whole yarn and pins thing, so I'd say it's pretty unique in terms of concept.

Art

The stages look like how you would expect, just colored threads being supported by pins. However, I should say, the patterns in this game are surprisingly complex, even with the simpler/easier ones. Part of the fun lies with how the design is going to reveal itself, and I would partly recommend turning off pattern titles while you're playing it the first time.

And what's nice is that it isn't just outlines of shapes and objects, but some colors are also "filled in", either by having other colors close to the "lineart" or having patterns of lines inside the various shapes.

Audio

Surprisingly enough, even though the games are free, the devs have their own soundtracks for them, including both this and Coloring Pixels, and they're pretty. For some reason, the relaxing piano tracks remind me of Yiruma pieces, but I'm pretty sure that they're not. At least, not the ones that I've heard before, anyway.

I like that there's quite a variety to the soundtrack, so it doesn't really get old quickly. Also, we amuse ourselves with it more by trying to make our moves match the tempo. But that's just us lol

Gameplay

So what you do is you choose a pattern, and then you're taken to a virtual board with pins already laid out. The main mechanic of the game is you loop different colors of yarn on the pins using the mouse, following arrows on screen as you go.

The directions are very specific, and even show you where the next pins are going to be so you can easily make your next move. The game also lets you know when you're making a mistake, and shows you where it is. If you make mistakes on too many pins, you will be brought back to the last successful pin you went through.

By the way, we made a mistake when we first played this, and thought that you needed to keep the left mouse button pressed while you're moving the yarn. Apparently, you just need to click once and then just move the mouse as needed. So please, don't give yourselves carpal tunnel syndrome by making that mistake. And don't be afraid to take breaks.

We haven't finished the game yet as of this writing, but apparently, there's a New Game + feature. You can also challenge yourself time-wise while you're playing, even on the first time, just remember to turn on the timer in the settings.

Speaking of settings, it's nice to see that there are certain accessibility options there, and you might want to mess around with them so you can give yourself a satisfying playtime.

Overall

It's a nice, adorable game that can certainly be as relaxing or as pressuring as you want, and what's great about it is that it's free. If you want something to pass a bit of time with, you can try it out.

You can get it from Steam.