''Wattam'' is a 2019

puzzle-platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

developed by

Funomena Robin Hunicke (; born March 15, 1973) is an American video game designer and producer. She is a professor of game design at UC Santa Cruz and the co-founder of Funomena. Hunicke began her career at Electronic Arts where she worked on multiple ...

and published by

Annapurna Interactive Annapurna Games, LLC (trade name: Annapurna Interactive) is an American video game publisher and developer. The company is a division of Annapurna Pictures, and was founded in 2016, and has focused on publishing innovative and emotive indie games ...

. It was designed by

Keita Takahashi is a Japanese game developer and artist. He is best known for creating the '' Katamari'' game franchise and working as director and lead designer on ''Katamari Damacy'' as well as its sequel, '' We Love Katamari''. The original game was a surpr ...

, creator of ''

Katamari Damacy () is a 2004 action-puzzle video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. The game's plot concerns a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild stars, constellations, and the Moon, which were inadvertently destroyed by his f ...

'', and was released for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

on December 17.

Gameplay

The game is played either solo or

co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

, and consists of befriending other inhabitants of the world, including trees, flowers, rocks, toilets, poop, mouths, and more by holding hands, uncovering secrets, playing

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...

s, and solving puzzles. Characters each have unique melodies, which can be combined.

Development

Originally revealed in December 2014 as a

exclusive, ''Wattam'' was to be published by

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

and developed jointly by

and

Santa Monica Studio Santa Monica Studio is an American video game developer of Sony Interactive Entertainment based in Los Angeles. It is best known for developing the ''God of War'' series. The studio was founded in 1999 by Allan Becker and was located in Santa ...

. However, it was revealed in October 2016 that Sony were no longer involved with the game. In August 2017,

was announced as the new publisher, and that it would additionally be released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. Regarding ''Wattam'', designer

said that he was "always" trying to make a game that makes people notice how "our ordinary life is great". ''Wattam'' had a troubled development at Funomena. Takahashi quarreled with studio co-founder

Robin Hunicke Robin Hunicke (; born March 15, 1973) is an American video game designer and producer. She is a professor of game design at UC Santa Cruz and the co-founder of Funomena. Hunicke began her career at Electronic Arts where she worked on multipl ...

over the game's design and production. Hunicke withdrew from active involvement in the game's development to focus on running the company. After Sony ended its co-development with Funomena, the studio announced layoffs. The game would ultimately spend over five years in development.

Reception

''Wattam'' received "mixed or average reviews" from critics upon release according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. The game was nominated for the "Family", "

Game Design Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

", and "Music" categories at the

16th British Academy Games Awards The 16th British Academy Video Game Awards was hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on 2 April 2020 to honour the best video games of 2019. Though originally planned to be presented at a ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall ...

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Video games Action games Indie games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 4 games 2019 video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Annapurna Interactive games Video games designed by Keita Takahashi

Gameplay

Development

Reception

References

Further reading

External links