Kittens and Yarn Review

Game: Kittens and Yarn
Genre: Puzzle, Adventure, Strategy, Board Game
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam, Windows)
Developers | Publishers: Pinel Games | Silesia Games
Age Rating: US E | EU 3+
Price: US $2.99 | UK £2.69| EU € 2,99
Release Date: February 10th, 2022

Review code used, with many thanks to Silesia Games.

Kittens and Yarn is a cute, minimalist puzzle game originally released on Steam last year.

Kittens and Yarn

As the name would suggest, the game is about Kittens and balls of Yarn  Unfortunately, there isn’t a story in the game, so I made one up in my head, which I know you really want me to share with you.

The naughty kitten was playing with its owners’ knitting basket and knocked it over, causing all the balls of yarn to fall into a tangled mess on the floor. So Kitty, with your help and a few of the Kittens friends, have to untangle the coloured balls of yarn across forty puzzles in this cute puzzle game.

Relaxing to Play

It is not a difficult game by any means, but it is relaxing to play. The game starts with one kitten and an unravelled ball of yarn; swapping the pieces on the board creates an unbroken line of coloured yarn. Once you swap all the pieces into the correct space, you move on to the next puzzle.

There isn’t any pressure or silly time limits. It is just you, a kitten with its ball of yarn and all the time you want to solve the puzzle. Of course, as you progress through the puzzles, extra kittens are thrown into the mix which also means extra yarn balls are added.

With up to four kittens and all the extra coloured yarn, some of the puzzles take a while to complete. However, you can leave the puzzle incomplete if you have something else to do and return to it later to finish it off. It is a nice cosy game to dip into while having a coffee or tea break, making it easy to pick up and play.

Visuals and Controls

Visually the game is quite sweet, the kittens are well animated, and the puzzle stands out as the main object. However, I would have liked to see a different background to the puzzle as all forty levels have the same background image, the only difference being the background colour. More background variety would have helped lift the game as it does get mundane looking at the same background.

Controls are via the joy-con or touchscreen, and both work equally well. There isn’t a tutorial or instructions, but I don’t think they are needed as it’s a pretty simple puzzle to understand how you should go about completing it.

Conclusion

Kittens and Yarn is a simplistic puzzle in looks and its challenge. Like most Silesia Games puzzle games, such as Hidden Paws or Summer Paws, Kittens and Yarn doesn’t break the mould of minimalist looks tied in with a decent puzzle game. However, it is a great game to pass a few hours with for the few pounds or dollars the game costs in the eShop.

Final Verdict: I Like it