Umami – A Tasty Little Puzzle Game

“I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that’s 40, 000 pieces. When you finish it, it says ‘go outside’.” – Demetri Martin

Overview

Umami is a cosy, casual puzzle game in which each level presents the player with a different food-themed 3D jigsaw puzzle to complete.

Gameplay

Umami consists of 15 levels, each one containing a different 3D jigsaw puzzle with a variety of whimsical food themes, such as ‘golden hive waffles’ and ‘beary in love cake’, and each puzzle features an adorable animal character. Players can view the front and back of the completed puzzle at any time by opening the puzzle reference, which can be a big help, especially at the start of each puzzle. The game is navigated via a journal that also tracks the player’s progress. Every level also includes a hidden collector’s card related to the level’s theme. These can be found by clicking on objects within the level. There are achievements for finding all of these, as well as for petting all the animals.

The game is very relaxing. The puzzles offer a minimal amount of challenge, enough to stop the game from becoming boring, and it is very satisfying to complete each 3D jigsaw. However, Umami probably lends itself better to shorter play sessions as it can get a little repetitive.

Styling

Umami features a cute, 3D artstyle that is clean, using bright lighting and vibrant colour palettes. The UI, book, collectable cards, and other aspects outside of the puzzles themselves use a more sketch-like, cartoony style that is rather charming. The themes throughout the game are twee and somewhat magical, making the different art styles very well suited to the game. The soundtrack is made up of different upbeat lo-fi tracks that help maintain the game’s relaxing tone without being too sedate. The sound effects are also suitably cute and add to the overall feel of the game.

Summary

Umami is a delightful game offering simple but enjoyable gameplay, an upbeat and varied soundtrack, charming stylised visuals, and adorable themes. It can be completed in around 4-6 hours of relaxing, satisfying gameplay and is well-suited to players who want to dip in and out of the experience. Overall, I enjoyed Umami, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a cute and casual puzzle game.

Looking for more puzzle games? You may also enjoy these reviews:
The Shape of Things – The Almost Gone – A Little to the Left – Moncage

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