Game: Wobbly Life
Genre: Action, Adventure, Simulation
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows), Xbox One/X/S and PS4)
Developer | Publisher: RubberBandGames | Curve Games
Age Rating: US Everyone | EU 7
Price: US $24.99 | UK £19.99 | EU € 24,99
Release Date: May 29th, 2025
Review code used, with many thanks to Curve Games.
Wobbly Life is an open-world sandbox, developed by a small team, focused on making fun games.
A Wobbly Start
The graphic novel start to Wobbly Life explains how Grandma has had enough of the your Wobbly character playing video games all day, and demands that you go and get a job. So she chucks you out of the house, with the parting objective that if you earn enough money, you could buy a house.
Although not compulsory to complete, Wobbly Life offers a tutorial. It explains the fundamentals of completing jobs and guides you through delivering jelly to the Jelly Man, who lives opposite Grandma. There is no time pressure, and you’ll get a better pay packet than if you complete the job later. You’ll also find out how to change costume at one of the many wardrobes found around the island.
You are then left to live your Wobbly Life.
Introducing Wobbly Island
The world of Wobbly Life is surprisingly big. Each of the individual islands has a different characteristic: the main town area with its shops, apartments, and public buildings; the village area with lots of residential housing; the mountain with lodges and winter sports; a cloud-covered jungle with hidden treasure; and Paradise Island with its expensive mansions and golf course. In each area, there are houses to buy, with varying price tags.
As well as being able to zoom in and find activities on the map, you can also check your ‘To Do List’. This details the missions which you’ve discovered and can be expanded to list the individual tasks within that mission. You don’t need to fully complete a mission before starting the next.
There’s a lot of detail in Wobbly Life, although sometimes you’ll need to be closer to objects for them to appear. The mini-map on the main gameplay screen also shows all the activities, missions, and job locations, and although it looks like a jumbled mess at times, it’s useful for guiding you to the next location when completing jobs. The mini-map and any on-screen instructions can be turned off.
Getting a Job in Wobbly Life
There are lots of jobs to have a go at in Wobbly Life, and although the pay isn’t high, you can attempt them multiple times. Most of the jobs are timed, but you still might receive part-payment if you complete some of the task. You can build a house, demolish it, and then recycle the rubble, collect the garbage, or dispose of the toxic waste. You can be a taxi driver, disco dancer, deliver pizzas, go mining, be a farmer, or an artist.
You can put out fires, be a paramedic or even fly the rescue helicopter. However, it’s not possible to close the door, so unfortunately, my patient fell out mid-flight and needed rescuing again! Some of the jobs are a lot easier than others to complete. Trying to shoot newspapers at doorways requires more accuracy than I could muster, but this is one of the jobs you get part-payment for. With the rag doll movement of your Wobbly, it can be tricky to press buttons or grab hold of a needed item, and once you’ve grabbed something, it can be hard to manipulate yourself and it through openings.
Another way to earn money is by completing races and there are lots of different races to have a go at, including cars, jet skis, and planes. Although there is a time element, it’s controlled by passing through checkpoints and receiving time boosts. Completing jobs, races or missions for the first time will quite often be rewarded with a costume.
You can also fish in Wobbly Life. There are various fishing points around Wobbly Island, and a total of 47 unique fish to catch. You’ll need to pilot the boat out to the fishing area before you can start fishing. The fishing mechanic could have done with more explanation, but once grasped, it’s easy enough, although the catch rate isn’t high. Once back at the dock, you’ll need to unload the fish to receive your money. Make sure you manoeuvre the boat close to the dock, as you wouldn’t want to fall into the sea while carrying your fish, as wobblies can’t swim.
There is no end to Wobbly Life, you set your own objectives, do the jobs and missions you like and enjoy your wobbly existence.
A Wobbly Life Together
Wobbly Life has both online and local co-op. The Nintendo Switch allows for 2 players to adventure together, but other platforms have up to four players.
Local co-op is via a split screen for both the Wobbly Life world and arcade modes. In the world, each player has their own wallet and can do tasks independently or together. The arcade mode has a sandbox version and three games: Hide & Seek (which is not very successful on a split screen); Wobble Run, which is a race across an obstacle course; and Trash Zone, where one player throws garbage down a chute in the attempt to knock the other into the compactor (definitely more fun than it sounds!)
Gameplay
The Wobbly Life tutorial does an excellent job of explaining the basic controls. There is the need to hold the ZR and/or ZL buttons to carry objects, and I found this trickier in the handheld mode. However, the text is large enough to read on the small screen, but there is no touchscreen functionality. There were a few frame rate issues, but nothing to spoil the fun. I got stuck in the scenery a couple of times, but luckily there is a respawn option.
There are sound controls for various aspects, including SFX, pets and vehicles. There is also the ability to invert Y, and altered the sensitivity and field of view.
There is no option to pause the game, even when playing solo. Wobbly Life autosaves about every 5 minutes, with the option of saving on exit. However, you will start at Grandma’s house (or your own), not at the place you exited.
An in-game hour takes just over 1.5 real-time minutes. Your Wobbly can stay awake all day and night, but if you don’t like the dark, your Wobbly can sleep in a bed. Wobbly Life has different weather, including lightning, which can hit your Wobbly, causing them to fall over with stars about their head.
Conclusion
There’s a lot of fun to be had in Wobbly Life! Some of the jobs are more challenging and trickier than others, but with no pressure to complete them all, there’s something for everyone, at all ages.
It’s silly, it’s funny, and although at times really frustrating, there is something addictive about Wobbly Life.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot
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