SCARF

Embark on a lovely adventure where your scarf will be your best companion in a beautiful world. Scarf is an artistic platformer with a heavy emphasis on exploration and a keen sense of style that will charm players of any age.

Despite its apparent simplicity, Scarf promises to be an interactive experience like no other, partially thanks to its wonderful sense of discovery and its clever use of metaphors. The game also takes a jab at many of today’s social issues – something that might not be to every player’s tastes. Let’s see what we can expect from Scarf in this preview.

Three Worlds to Explore

Scarf has a very distinctive art style that seems to evoke feelings of calm and serenity. You play as a small character tasked with a dangerous mission: trapping rebellious souls that have created their own worlds.

As the developers at Uprising Studios explain, the game is an exploration of what it truly means to be a hero. The game uses a narrative similar to games like Journey, where metaphors and symbolism say much more than mere words ever could.

Visually speaking, the game also shares some similarities with Journey. To be precise, it looks like if Journey was set in the world of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Scarf features three main worlds for players to explore, each with its own unique scenery: the Meadow, the Desert, and the Mountain.

Each one of these biomes is beautifully detailed, and your scarf will let you interact with the world in a variety of ways. The difficulty is not front and center in Scarf, with the most important element of the gameplay being the narrative instead.

No Words Needed

Sure, Scarf is a narrative experience, but it’s one done entirely without words. Each element of the game’s world is a narrative piece in and of itself, with a high amount of symbolic content left for the player to construct their own understanding of the world.

That said, there are some elements of current-day issues thrown into the mix that is Scarf. Things like ecology, globalization, and diversity do show up from time to time. While seeing these elements in a western video game is almost inevitable these days, it’s a bit disappointing to see a game as unique as Scarf muddling its escapist adventure with complex real-world themes.

Fortunately, none of the current-day themes are exposed in an intrusive way, once again letting the player give meaning to the images presented to them. This is combined with the game’s rich mythos and characters, which truly make the game’s world feel alive.

Visual Experience

Much like its narrative, Scarf uses a minimalistic approach to graphics. While rich in detail and colors, textures are quite basic and clean, giving the game a soft look. The main character is itself a white, almost featureless guy, which is great to add more attention to the titular scarf.

An area where there’s clear room for improvement is the game’s animations. While they look good enough for the most part, some actions, like turning or jumping, look a bit stilted. This can stick out like a sore thumb in an otherwise beautiful game like Scarf.

Pros:

• Beautiful world design
• Interesting narrative
• Cute character design

Cons:

• Basic textures
• Some animations lack polish