Help a bear knit the world's longest scarf in 'crazy knitting game' Knituma
Cats and balls of yarn are a no-no
Knituma is, according to developer Paprika Games, a "crazy knitting game." And to that I say: "About damn time."
Knitting has been criminally underlooked in mobile games as far as I'm concerned. The delicate process of pushing thread through needle; the finger work of stitching together fabric; it's perfect for a touchscreen translation.
But that's not what Knituma is. It's more akin to the frantic slicing of Fruit Ninja.
Instead of fruit flying across the screen, balls of yarn do, and it's your job to catch them with your finger. Once you get one, you can then draw a thread between the others on screen to get a combo.
To finish off the move, you have to join the thread to the basket at the bottom of the screen. At which point the game's knitting bear Kuma reaches a paw out to grab the yarn you collected.
All of this happens within a couple of seconds, and success is rewarded in all bizarre manners: ducks playing trumpets, piggy banks ingesting a stream of coins, an octopus spreading fans behind the screen.
There's also a cat that appears on screen to swipe the balls of yarn from you at times. Other challenges mostly involve avoiding scissors and blades cutting your thread before you can collect the balls of yarn.
It's certainly rather, well yes, "crazy" as the developer puts it. There's a lot of energy that you wouldn't typically associate with knitting here.
The plot follows suit, being about a bear trying to knit the world's longest scarf. And why? It's winter - do you need any more reason than trying to keep warm to want a very long scarf? No, you do not.
Anyway, that's Knituma: a frenetic game about knitting, which to my slight disappointment doesn't actually let you knit. Ah well, I'll leave that to Knitting Simulator (there's bound to be one at some point).
It'll be coming to iOS on November 17th, and will be free to play - cue the booing. It has wait timers on challenges, paid-only cosmetic items, and gold that you can get via IAP.
You can keep track of Knituma on its website.
