Another one of those demos that I played, really enjoyed, and knew that I needed to play the full game, and here we are. An insanely gorgeous wood-themed puzzle game about a young fox and her toxic addiction to technology.

Woodo is a cozy 3D puzzle game from Tiny Monks Tales and published by Daedalic Entertainment. The game was released on September 16th for all the major consoles and PC, and retail for $17.

Giga shoutout to the developer and publisher for the key. I had forgotten that I applied for it, and when I saw it in my inbox, I shouted for my wife to “get in here, we got a puzzle game to play.”

Woodo follows a young fox appropriately named Foxy, and her summer adventure in the countryside with a frog named Ben. A story about a girl who is addicted to technology heading out into the world of a more analog nature. The story feels like something everyone has been part of at least once: parents forcing kids on a boring vacation, or, in my case, a vacation to incredibly rural Iowa, where there is no internet, just endless cornfields. Embellished set pieces are met in turn with incredibly genuine stories about friendship, conflict, fitting in and childhood whimsy. There are a lot of relatable moments in Woodo, and many relatable moments in Woodo; I won’t spoil much, but the narrative is charming, fun, and quite enjoyable.

Woodo is a giant wooden diorama, and the player has to piece it together in small, bite-sized story bits.

The map of the countryside is quite large, and it is broken up into sections with their own little narrative and their own little gimmick on how to play the game. Each level is a moment in time that the narrator will talk the player through and as you place the wooden items in their appropriate spots, the story continues.

Placeable items are placed throughout the scene, some up in the air, some in boxes with some even being hidden to facilitate checking every nook and cranny for wood pieces to place. From the moment that Foxy shows up, an entire farm and even a pirate ship, there is a lot of items to find and place. There are moments that a magnifying glass icon will appear on objects to signify to the player that an extra puzzle is about. Objects like backpacks, toy chests, and even a small city on a flower have their own smaller levels atop the larger puzzle. Its nice that Woodo bridges that gap between hidden object games and puzzle games; it hits a really nice, specific itch that I didn’t know I had.

The gameplay is a majority just placing objects in their correct spots until the progress bar at the top is full. Scroll with the mouse wheel to zoom in and out, and click a spot to focus Woodo’s camera on that spot for easier wooden piece placement. Sometimes the camera feels a little too close that I cannot see everything that I wanted to see, which got remedied somewhat after playing a few more hours of it. Good quality of life designs like the object rotate to give the player a subtle hint to where it can go, which was extremely helpful when the level has 50-100 pieces to place.

Having the pieces snap into place when the player is close to the piece really helps when the player is not confident of the placement. Fully placing a set of objects like a flower garden or a school of fish will fill in the rest of the vibrant colors and bloom with some super adorable and fantastical animation.

Woodo wants you to experience it; there is no timer, just the player, some wooden pieces and an objective to complete. A hint button is always flashing at the top of the screen to remind you that sometimes you cannot find every place for every piece and it is okay to ask for help. I really do enjoy these kinds of games, though I have to complete it relatively quickly, because it reminds me to not get frustrated and just take it slow.

Woodo is adorable from start to finish. Absolutely beautiful-looking game

That being said, and not being dramatic when I say this, that Woodo is one of the greatest looing games this year. The wood diorama aesthetic is pulling every single pound of weight. Both the larger and smaller levels share the same amount of detail, which is frightening. There is a specific farm level that is so large it overwhelmed me for a moment, until my wife reminded me we shouldn’t hurry, and I relaxed. Colors fit really well with the wood grain patterns and are beautiful at times. It feels nice and looks incredibly after completing a section to then zoom out and look at the work that you have done. Sometimes it is really stunning.

Miriam-Teak Lee does a fantastic job of narrating the game. Her emotions come out clearly when Foxy talks about how much Ben and her friendship matter to her, or simply tells a story about one of her adventures. Don Roberts as composer just checks all the boxes: Cozy music, adorable sounds for the pet spider, baby ducks, adult geese, and the placing of the wooden piece sound all make me very happy.

I knew from the demo that I would enjoy Woodo and I was right the whole time. The wooden theme never gets old, it is always a joy to look at. The narrative is expertly written and voiced; I enjoyed every moment of it. The puzzles are nice and digestible, though sometimes they can be a little overwhelming when they are too large. The camera can be a little too close, even when zooming out all the way, but that’s more of a nitpicky thing, nothing that really hurts the game. My wife and I loved every moment of Woodo’s 4-5 hours of playtime, and I advise anyone who enjoys cozy puzzle games that this game sets a high bar.

9/10