Woodo Review – A Wholesome Game With Actual Gameplay (Not Just Vibes)

When was Woodo announced? Around 2024, I think. Since then, it’s sat patiently on my Steam wishlist, hoping not to remain in development limbo or sneakily launch under the radar.

I’ve simply been too busy to keep tabs. But when Daedalic Entertainment announced that it’s out, I was graciously provided a code to review. You had me at “first base”… no, wait—”hello.” Bugger, I’ve cocked it up. Irrespective of my pithy anecdotes, Woodo is a game you need in your life.

What is it? The store page captures it perfectly ‘a 3D colouring book you can touch’. Alright, so the ultrawide got a little hot to touch, as too was my AYN Thor (gratuitous shoutout!), which was plugged into the TV using GameNative.

The former setup was undoubtedly the best experience as a player, as this game is absolutely yummy, but the significance of playing through the TV was the audience. My youngest played along, while wifey spectated and shouted out the hints. Win-win, methinks.

Optical Plastic Thingy (Mouse) Wins This Round

Nevertheless, playing through a controller was pooed on from a great height by the mouse gods, as the controls are ultimately best through your optical plastic thingy, and certainly less fiddly then mucking about with awkward, zoomed-in content with the joysticks.

Woodo is an interactive diorama, the mouse can rotate around each scene, pan, and zoom in and out quite effortlessly. Each scene will depict a page in the story told by Foxy, that animates as you drop in the matching 3D puzzle piece, propelling the story forward.

The right side of the screen is a scrollable inventory of items that rotate as you rotate around the scene, perfectly matching up where the object should go. In earlier scenes, most parts are selectable, but through story progression, story parts have to be discovered in bonus scenes, or completed one at a time.

If you’re imagination isn’t shot, you could surmise that there are many intricate parts, and wonder where these extra scenes come in. As the puzzle is slowly formed, a magnifying glass will pop up with the option to enter an extra scene, though you can also double-click on areas for a better view.

The Weakest Link (But You’ll Barely Notice)

Even though the mouse is better, it can take some getting used to when close up in a scene, though it’s quite effortless to get your bearings back. And, because of how the first scenes play out, Woodo is very easy to accessible to begin with.

This helped for my screening for the fam, but when I retired to my Batcave and played solo, I steamrolled through some sections. Thankfully, Tiny Monks Tales change things up with some very abstract puzzles, more treasure hunts, and leaning more into the momentum of the storytelling.

Bizarrely, as a slave to the narrative-driven games, Woodo’s story was the weakest part of the game. Specifically that came from the voiceover, which did not click with me in the slightest. Without giving away the beats, both the story and character development is very formulaic.

I couldn’t identify with Foxy’s nature, what with being a wise, educated gentleman – pah! I actually found them to be loathsome. However… that is essential to our character’s development and in order for our hero to change, there has to be some cause and effect.

Stellar Art, Uplifting Music, Wholesome Vibes

Remember, I linked to Woodo’s store page as this being a coloring book and not a story book. There is a difference, as, based on the comments above, I actually zoned out of the voiceovers and could easily fill in the blanks. As for colouring and bringing something to life, that was magical.

Yes, I did actually mean that last comment as Woodo truly is a wholesome game that is so adorable. The art style is brilliant, with these enchanting wooden characters and dioramas, gorgeous 2D animatics, and uplifting music.

But you could easily have a nice bookshelf in your roof that is as aesthetically pleasing – how about the gameplay? That, my friends is the highlight. Gravitating towards being a toddler again in putting wooden blocks back into their rightful places was a joy.

With the bold use of colour, and lack of it when you’re starting a scene, Woodo acts as a hidden object title, too in that you have to locate the matching shapes to animate it. In the same way that a good rogue-like is addictive though its gameplay loop of progression, Woodo matches that with its intrigue, interactivity (seriously – click everything!) and innovation.

I really do love animated storybooks every once in a while to balance out all the blood and guts, and it truly hits the spot. Need a bit of mental realignment? Here’s the first step: head straight to the platform store of your choice.