I was fortunate enough to be able to talk about games two weeks in a row without any kind of obstacles because homework was quite easy. This gave me a bunch of time to play this week’s game with my wife right by my side. I showed her the game, and I told her it was a puzzle game about solving actual puzzles. she proceeded to take my seat and play the game for at least 90% of the game. This week, we are playing as a puzzle man with an unhealthy obsession with puzzles.

This week is Wilmot Works it Out

Wilmot Works it Out is a cozy puzzle game from Hollow Ponds, and published by Finji. The game was released at the end of October 2024 for the PC and retails for $15. I want to thank Finji for the key! I am honored to review this game.

You play as Wilmot.

That’s it

Wilmot likes to puzzle, like, LIKES to puzzle. He will get a puzzle every day, and you will be able to talk to the post person and learn about their life and, frankly, the outside world. Wilmot Works it Out’s indirect storytelling is remarkable as later on in the game, you are both invested in the mail person showing up to the door just as much as you are in the puzzles. Sam is an interesting person, she has feelings, she has likes and dislikes and she has bad days and good days.

She feels real, and every interaction with her is a joy despite all of the puzzling.

Wilmot Works it Out is just a puzzle game. You are given a puzzle, and you do it. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, going at your own pace is what its about. There will always be another puzzle. When you are done a puzzle, though, there is always a knock at the door, and Sam will tell you about her day, the cats in your yard, or the monumental amount of cars that your neighbor owns, and then hands you another puzzle to do.

Puzzling is easy! All you have to do is open the box and puzzle. Movement is mapped to WASD, and the left mouse picks up and sets down the pieces. The act of puzzling is concise, you pick up a piece, move it into place and if it fits then it latches on, makes a little *click* sound and the edges line up. Once you have finished the puzzle, you are able to put it on the wall for all to see. You are then introduced to the idea that Wilmot owns an entire home whose walls need to be filled with funky wall décor.

The puzzles are really fun, and you never really know what you’ve got until it’s done, and sometimes there will be pieces floating around for one or two shipments before it can be completed.

It’s cozy fun, all from start to finish.

The art of Richard Hogg is probably one of my favorite things about the game. His round, cartoonish, and colorful style makes the puzzles look incredibly adorable. I loved looking at every single puzzle that my wife and I did. There isn’t much going on in the background, so you are free to enjoy the puzzles to their maximum capacity. Even after you hang them up, there will be times when you want to just look at all the beautiful puzzles on the wall.

Eli Rainsberry does a superb job in creating a soundtrack that absolutely jams the entire time. You have a waiting room vibe mixed with some chill jazz, which makes for the perfect fit. My wife was putting puzzles together while I was awkwardly dancing behind her to the jams going on in the background of the game.

Perfect puzzling music.

Wilmot Works it Out is one of my favorite puzzle games this year, and I am pretty sure it is among my wife’s top two games. You are given an easy objective: relax and puzzle, and the game executes it perfectly. In no time, you are puzzling, talking to the post person, and finishing puzzles left and right. I clocked the game at around eight hours, and it was fun the whole damn time.

The game is accessible to everyone, it looks great, it sounds great, and it is an overall joy to play.

I love Wilmot

9/10