Almost everyone has some kind of childhood memories of an aunt or a grandmother and her Russian Nesting Dolls or Matryoshkas. Well, at least some of the witty developers at Tim Schafer’s Double Fine remembered those charming stacking dolls and am I glad they did.
The second downloadable title in a four part series, after the previously released Costume Quest, is called Stacking and centers around the concept of those very nesting dolls. If you have never seen one, this may spark the imagination. The game’s premise is short and simple. You are Charlie Blackmore, the littlest of all the nesting dolls, whom no one shows any respect or serious believe in, due to his size. One day an evil and rather mean looking Baron decides to enslave the children of Stacking’s world and even your entire family into a labor camp. This is where you come in, as Charlie it is the player’s task to recover each of your family members and maybe defeat the Baron.
The game is as cute and charming as the description and narrative sounds. Nesting dolls work in such a way that each doll can stack into a bigger one and so forth. In order to get Charlie’s family back he will have to stack into many different dolls and use their abilities to solve puzzles, in order to defeat the Baron. Very early on in the game, which has been crafted in an industrial era art style with silent films as cut scenes, Charlie needs to clear a room in order to move on. There are several different ways to achieve this. The puzzles in Stacking can be solved between 3 to 5 different ways; they rank from obvious to challenging and very cleverly designed. If players have trouble moving on, a generous hint system as well as a path marker will guide the way. Both are completely optional.
Back to the puzzle, there is a guard watching the door and won’t let you pass. What to do? One way would be to stack into a handy man who can open a secret passage, another is taking control of a ‘seductive’ nesting doll who can lure away the guard. Once inside the ball room, Charlie could stack into a belching cook or simply get caught without a ticket. This is how Stacking plays. There are several different puzzles across a handful of areas such as the central hub, the train station, a zeppelin and a boat. Each area has some of the same dolls but certain ones are only found in specific locations. Some of my favorite nesting dolls were the ‘punching’ doll and the ‘screaming woman’ doll. There are over 100 unique dolls in the game with different abilities which can be used separately or combined for some of the later puzzles.
Stacking is not really a difficult game unless you are looking to complete every challenge and high jinks there is. That is not a bad thing in the slightest. Stacking is one of the most creative and unique games to have been released on the PSN and Xbox LIVE Arcade platforms. I have gotten such an incredible joy out of experimenting with the different dolls and just messing around before moving on to the next level.
Players can always go back to the different locations and complete anything they’d like even after the main story is complete. While the narrative isn’t the longest and deepest I have played through, it is one of the wittiest and most charming this year. Stacking will have you laughing and grinning most of the time while playing in this awesome 1930’s inspired world. The attention to detail and quality is astonishing, even the shine on the dolls reminds me of playing with the nesting dolls when I was a kid. Players will also meet a friendly hobo named Levi who lives in the train station where all your achievements and dolls are kept as well as unlockable artwork.
Double Fine is known for creating unique worlds and memorable experiences filled with interesting characters and Stacking is no different. This game is a must buy for anyone who likes games that aren’t conforming to the norm. Stacking has a lot of classic adventure elements in it but never feels frustrating throughout the entire game. Stack away and play one of the best downloadable games in recent memory.
Score: 9 / 10
Stacking was developed by Double Fine and published by THQ for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on February 9th. A review code of the Xbox 360 retail version was provided to us by THQ for reviewing purposes.
