Unmechanical: Extended review for Xbox One, PS4

It feels like the term “good little game” was created with Unmechanical: Extended in mind. After all, it’s short, it’s cute, and it’s…well, it’s good.

Does that lack of description bother you? It bothers me, too, but honestly, it’s not like this is the sort of game that you can really go on at length about. It’s an enjoyable little puzzle game in which you’re trying to guide a small flying robot to freedom. There’s not really a story beyond the fact that he’s trapped, and you only have to guide him through five levels to get him out. If you’re particularly motivated and puzzle-minded, you could probably start this game after lunch one day and finish it long before dinner.

I should emphasize I don’t mean that in any kind of malicious way. Rather, it’s a statement of fact. I’ll also emphasize that rushing through Unmechanical: Extended probably doesn’t do it justice. While the five levels may not be huge, they’re still meant to be explored, and the game’s unnamed main character moves so slowly, it seems likely that the developers meant for you to move unhurriedly through each level as you take in the atmosphere and feel out solutions for the various puzzles they contain.

This isn’t entirely a good thing, though. It’s great that the developers want you to find your way through the game, but it still offers a distinct lack of hand-holding. As in: it offers zero help to anyone who needs it. I mean, it’s not a massive problem, since everything here is so straightforward and basic that you’ll figure everything out pretty quickly, but bells and whistles in the form of, say, a control map and maybe a “restart from last checkpoint” menu option still would’ve been nice.

There’s no point dwelling on that too much, though, since it seems like it would be silly to get annoyed at a game as straightforward (and I have to say, adorable to the extent robots can be adorable) as this. Unmechanical: Extended won’t blow too many people away, but I don’t think anyone can doubt its heart is in the right place.