Unravel review – a brief, beautiful message of love

With its little hero made of yarn, this short, sweet puzzle platformer has a story to tell about the way love connects us

Unravel is promoted as a tale "told completely without words", but that's not entirely true. In the photo album where the story is collected, a handwritten message summarises the themes of the game: "Love forms bonds, like strands of yarn. Like yarn, those bonds can be fragile, or get all tangled. But when they're kept and cared for, they can bridge any distance."

Words also appear in the first level of this much anticipated puzzle adventure, to tell you how to run, jump, grab, climb, swing, throw a lasso and build a bridge. These instructions are nicely arranged, floating in the sky at the point you need them, but that doesn't disguise that this is a tutorial crammed into one level, expecting players to quickly grasp how to move through the world.