The Maw

Most Of My time away from work is spent stuffing my face with crisps, cakes, biscuits and red meat, so I was clearly the obvious choice to review a game that involves a large, pink gelatinous blob devouring everything in sight. The Maw is a platform-cum-puzzle game that involves you taking control of a timid alien creature - Frank -who's captured by some bounty hunters. The spaceship he's on crashes and he escapes the rubble intact, along with the titular Maw itself.

Teaming up, they have to traverse a very colourful landscape full of strange creatures and, later on, the bounty hunters. The main premise of the game is for you to guide the Maw to sources of food using a plasma leash, which can also be used to manipulate other creatures and objects in the game world. The more food the Maw devours, the bigger he grows. There are also special animals that cause him to mutate for the duration of a level when eaten. This allows you to clear obstacles and solve puzzles on each stage.

Essentially, The Maw is a mixture of puzzle solving and platform jumping, that has a wonderful personality to it and a great premise in the Maw itself. Let's not also forget that this has been made by an independent developer. However, the question of longevity has to be addressed and, sadly, this is where the game comes up mightily short (literally). The game is less than a tenner on Steam and that's probably the perfect price for it, given the few hours you get out of it. Even The Maw's DLC (Brute Force and River Redirect, which cost less than a quid each) don't add much to the main game.

Treat The Maw as a casual half hour game and you'll be well satisfied, but don't expect any maw than that. Sorry.