Unwording follows a character with a bleak self-image, but steadily reshapes their outlook on life by altering their perspective through puzzles and the game world.
The game begins in a 2D perspective as you take control of Tom. Tom has a lot of negative thoughts in his head, and you’ll see this reflected in the interactions he has with the world around him. These take the shape of word puzzles, which, at this point, involve you creating those bad thoughts and ideas. Shifting words to say things like “I Am Alone” will solve the puzzle, but they’ll also show you what Tom thinks of himself and the world. It’s not great, but when a little bird gets into his place, things start to shift and change.
As time passes and you get introduced to more of Tom’s life, things start to change. The game steadily moves from 2D to 2.5D to full 3D, capturing how his life is becoming fuller and happier. The puzzles change as well, changing from jumbled letters to letter blocks that you can look at from different angles to form something more positive and hopeful. It’s a delight to see how looking at things from another perspective can, quite literally, change the course of Tom’s life. It also captures how the thinking in his head will have an effect on his life, and by doing what you can to alter that thinking, you can make things a lot better for yourself and your character.
Unwording is a charming word puzzle game that uses several mechanics on perspective and word order to give you some interesting challenges. More importantly, it’s got a lovely message about shifting the way we talk to ourselves and think about our lives, and how it’s always worthwhile to work on being less negative about ourselves.
Unwording is available now on Steam.
