GOTY 2019 - NUMBER TEN
Video version
It’s really difficult to know where Wattam belongs on this list, or even if it really belongs on it at all. I just know that this is my list, and I’m more interested in talking about it than Judgment or Cadence of Hyrule.
Wattam is a uniquely personal game, so if you’re an adult, it helps to know who Keita Takahashi is if you’re going to try to understand it. He’s a game creator who doesn’t play games. He’s a designer, but his primary interest is in making fun, useless stuff, and making video games is simply the easiest way to present that to a global audience. After somehow convincing Namco to fund and release his oddball, surreal sandbox toy thing, Noby Noby Boy (which one could easily speculate lead to a lot of arguments and frustration), Takahashi left his job and his home country, unsure what he should be doing.
Wattam’s concept came from Takahashi watching his young sons doodle and play with building blocks, coming up with mad wee stories and laughing. He decided that if he was going to make videogames, they should be those kinds of videogames.
If you played Noby Noby Boy, you might have some idea of what to expect, but there’s a little more to it. Wattam is a bit more of a game. There’s wee puzzles, progression and even a bit of a story. It’s less of a toy, though the intention is to have you pair different things together and see if something fun comes out of it.
Wattam feels like playing with a toddler, and following their logic. Seeing what stupid things cause them to errupt in fits of laughter. You can make your wee guy take off his hat and explode at any time, or decide you’re going to play as a mouth instead; eating everybody and turning them into poop. It’s stupid nonsense, and it barely holds together as a game, but it’s all very charming.
The game might come off as complete nonsense. Dancing scribbles. Takahashi is one of the most unguarded auteurs in the industry though, and his values and beliefs shine through all the noise and clutter. Broadly speaking, Wattam is about relationships, the way different things give each other purpose, and forms of universal communication shared between people who speak different languages. It’s also about valuing everyday trinkets that get taken for granted.
As the credits roll, you see the names of Keita Takahashi’s sons, who inspired the game, and of his composer wife, Asuka, who fans ought to know from her excellent contributions to Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy’s soundtracks. The song that plays over it honours the experience they’ve shared over the six long years of Wattam’s development, their love and their eager commitment to each other. At this point, it seems clear that Wattam is a tribute to those years of early parenthood, and who their children were during the game’s development. Wattam is a capsule of what was fun about the Takahashi family’s shared experience of those years. The game is rough and unsteady, but it gives the impression of an honest representation.
Six years is a long time. Maybe that’s worth remembering.
Video version
It’s really difficult to know where Wattam belongs on this list, or even if it really belongs on it at all. I just know that this is my list, and I’m more interested in talking about it than Judgment or Cadence of Hyrule.
Wattam is a uniquely personal game, so if you’re an adult, it helps to know who Keita Takahashi is if you’re going to try to understand it. He’s a game creator who doesn’t play games. He’s a designer, but his primary interest is in making fun, useless stuff, and making video games is simply the easiest way to present that to a global audience. After somehow convincing Namco to fund and release his oddball, surreal sandbox toy thing, Noby Noby Boy (which one could easily speculate lead to a lot of arguments and frustration), Takahashi left his job and his home country, unsure what he should be doing.
Wattam’s concept came from Takahashi watching his young sons doodle and play with building blocks, coming up with mad wee stories and laughing. He decided that if he was going to make videogames, they should be those kinds of videogames.
If you played Noby Noby Boy, you might have some idea of what to expect, but there’s a little more to it. Wattam is a bit more of a game. There’s wee puzzles, progression and even a bit of a story. It’s less of a toy, though the intention is to have you pair different things together and see if something fun comes out of it.
Wattam feels like playing with a toddler, and following their logic. Seeing what stupid things cause them to errupt in fits of laughter. You can make your wee guy take off his hat and explode at any time, or decide you’re going to play as a mouth instead; eating everybody and turning them into poop. It’s stupid nonsense, and it barely holds together as a game, but it’s all very charming.
The game might come off as complete nonsense. Dancing scribbles. Takahashi is one of the most unguarded auteurs in the industry though, and his values and beliefs shine through all the noise and clutter. Broadly speaking, Wattam is about relationships, the way different things give each other purpose, and forms of universal communication shared between people who speak different languages. It’s also about valuing everyday trinkets that get taken for granted.
As the credits roll, you see the names of Keita Takahashi’s sons, who inspired the game, and of his composer wife, Asuka, who fans ought to know from her excellent contributions to Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy’s soundtracks. The song that plays over it honours the experience they’ve shared over the six long years of Wattam’s development, their love and their eager commitment to each other. At this point, it seems clear that Wattam is a tribute to those years of early parenthood, and who their children were during the game’s development. Wattam is a capsule of what was fun about the Takahashi family’s shared experience of those years. The game is rough and unsteady, but it gives the impression of an honest representation.
Six years is a long time. Maybe that’s worth remembering.