Papetura

Papetura is one of those games that feels like it has been in development forever. I first heard about this around 2015/2016 and now finally the game is ready to be released. I am not criticizing the very small team for the time it has taken to make this point and click style of game. Far from it, the way that this game is made is truly breathtaking and it is one of the most artistic looking games you will play in 2021. I would probably go as far as to say that this is the most stylish-looking game of the year!

The Crafted World

No, I am not talking about Yoshi and Poochy! The way that Papetura is made is truly a work of art. All of the characters, levels, and everything else you see in the game was made via the artform of papercraft.

It is truly astounding what they were able to do here and as someone who has always had an interest in stop motion since I first saw, Jason and the Argonauts, I was immediately drawn to this game.

As well as having these amazing-looking characters and locations. The use of lighting is very, very clever in this game. I am actually having a really hard time thinking of another game that uses lighting in the same way that this one here does, it is truly amazing stuff.

Burning It Down

The story being told in Papetura is very “magical” and it has a lot of heart. There is no dialogue here, instead, the story unfolds through the characters and the encounters they have. The main character is a guy called Pape and he comes across a magical cat called Tura. They live in this paper world that is under threat from those who want to burn it down and now they must do what they can to save it and themselves.

Puzzling Your Way To The Top

If you have played any kind of point and click adventure game before, you will know what this game has in store for you. They released a short demo of this many years back and the full game looks to offer that same kind of gameplay. Most of what you will be doing revolves around puzzles and figuring out what to do and why. Remember how I talked about the clever use of light? Well, light plays a part in some of the puzzles.

For example, you have this firefly looking bug and you need to shoot him at these “plants” that will light up and then open the doorway. Each area that you will go into has a problem that you need to solve and sometimes this can be easy to figure out, other times you will need to think outside of the box in order to make it to the next area.

Pros:

• The papercraft in this game is phenomenal
• I love the haunting sound design
• The way the story unfolds without any dialogue is very clever
• The way the game uses lighting is rather unique

Cons:

• I am not sure it is the kind of game I would play through more than once
• If you are not into point and click adventure games, this one may not win you over