The Maw – Twisted Pixel Games

I saw the preview of this delightful, colorful, and fun game, and had to download the demo.  The Maw follows the escape of two small prisoners from an alien ship.  The story is straightforward, with no dialogue.  Our hero, Frank, a blue alien life-form, escapes from captivity with a small purple blob, the game’s namesake, the Maw.  Containing the ability to eat nearly anything it comes into contact with, but not all that bright, the Maw is kept at Frank’s side with a handy plasma leash. After playing the first level, I was so addicted that I needed to purchase the rest of the game and keep playing.

The player plays as Frank, guiding the Maw around the beautifully created surroundings, letting the Maw eat various creatures to his heart’s content.  Every so often, the Maw grows just a touch bigger, and it happens so slightly, that you sometimes can’t tell if he really grew bigger from the last time it happens.  But he does get larger and larger, until towards the end of the game where he takes up nearly the whole screen.

Each level is a puzzle.  The main purpose is to simply devour as many creatures as you can which unlocks the exit.  In this manner, you can play through simply just  eating whatever you wish.  If, however, you explore the game fully, you find hidden secrets and monsters waiting for you to eat.  (Remember, the more you eat, the bigger the Maw gets!)

As the game progresses, you begin to learn some more advanced tactics.  You can use your leash for other things than leading the Maw around: Grabbing creatures, tossing around enemies, or throwing a creature that the Maw can’t reach (considering you can jump, and he can’t: my roommate’s kid said “Why can’t you just drag him up there?”) down to him for him to munch on.

The best part of the game is in the Maw’s transformations.  Certain creatures have special abilities, and when the Maw ingests them, his purplish blobby  self gathers some part of that power.   A lot of levels depend on this mechanic, as you work your way through the puzzles using different skills.  Skills vary from flame-throwing, laser-shooting, flying, shocking, and good ol’ fashioned run-you-down.

The game is graphically breathtaking.  Bright creatures look good against vivid backdrops of land and sky.  The amount of detail in its design puts it on a level with a full release Xbox game, not a simple Arcade download.  What really needs a strong kudos is the personality they worked into the Maw.  Capable only of varied grunting, they shaped his blobule and one eyeball into so many great emotions.   Imagine if a pet dog could smile, or be sad, or be frightened, and show it on their face, and that’s kind of the idea.  My favorite moment was when I tossed a creature down off a cliff to the Maw, waiting below.  He munched it up, ran in a little circle, and then glanced back up, waiting for more!  I really enjoyed interacting with this character!

And that’s the other wonderful part of the game:  although there is no spoken dialogue, and no written storyline, the game makes you care what happens to these two fugitives.  They work together, running from their enemies, exploring the unknown land they find themselves thrust upon.  In many games, this could turn very boring, very quick.  But in The Maw, the closeness you develop with these two carries you the whole way, all of your moments filled with the kinship of Frank and the Maw.  You work as a team, supporting one another, protecting one another.  Twisted Pixel did a wonderful job.

The music was wonderfully scored. Winifred Phillips, known for her work on God of War, composed the music for The Maw.  The music is unique, catchy, and stays in the background, as much of the environment as the vivid landscape.  I never found myself bored or tired of the music.  I sometimes forgot it was there, it was so integrated into the gameplay.

All in all, it is a fantastic game for all ages to enjoy.  It’s simple enough that the youngest players could get into it, but fun and enjoyable enough for even the older gamers.  The only gripe I had is that the game was disappointingly short, but for only 800 Microsoft Points ($10.00), it earned its value and then some.  I look forward to any expansions or DLC that may come in the future.

Please visit www.mawgame.com for more information.