14 DAY TRIAL // 
I shoot a perfect shot toward an alien in the distance. It’s my Mr. Push formula, which makes the purple creature skitter away. Unfortunately, through an unclear process, he also destroys the bridge he was standing on as he flees. And that, in turn, makes it harder for my character to get to an elevator.
My final destination is the blowhole of this whale-like spaceship but the alien infestation leads to detours and plenty of puzzle-solving. I need how I can use my push and pull special powers to repair the bridge or at least make it possible to jump over the gap (Ernst, my character, is entirely unable to swim).
The cart in front of me is easy to figure out. A short jump and some push pearl action make it reach its destination. But I need to deal with the broken bridge before I do that. So I launch a few experimental push-and-pull balls at its two sides, just to see how they reach. It takes some time to refine the combination of movements that will solve the puzzle but once I do that takes me one step closer to the blowhole.
Whalien – Unexpected Guests is developed and published by Forbidden Folds. I played it on Steam on the PC. The title offers a fun and colorful mix of platforming and physics-driven puzzles.
On the whale-shaped spaceship Fin, sentient and designed to keep humans safe, things are not well. Aliens called Squiddies have appeared in all compartments, secreting slime over critical components and putting the entire vessel in danger by clogging the critical blowhole. The only human left, named Ernest Hemingwhale, is the only one able to try and evacuate the unexpected guests and restore normal operations.
There’s not much narrative depth to Whalien but the universe is cartoonish and fun. Ernest himself is a friendly, older man, the type that rarely gets to be the hero of a video game adventure. The ship is also populated by spring people, who offer help and slight hints, and the purple aliens and their goo.
Gameplay seems a little light at first. Despite his bulk, the protagonist is pretty good at jumping, which gives him access to some blocked parts of the ship. He also quickly gets access to two power gloves, one for attracting objects and another designed to repel them. Using these abilities, he can explore the ship, steadily moving toward the affected blowhole.
Simply pushing and pulling objects while platforming through the game world isn’t too much fun on its own. But the game soon introduces two balls, called pearls in-game, that add depth and give it space to introduce more complex puzzles. Mrs. Pull and Mr. Push can be aimed and thrown and, once activated, either push or pull all objects in range that can be interacted with.
Whalien has a few big locations, filled with characters and built around a central big puzzle. Ernst, despite being the caretaker of the ship, doesn’t always have a clear idea of where he can go and how to reach the location.
It’s a good idea to move around the place first, eliminating as much as possible of the alien go and finding which objects can be interacted with. Use the gloves to push and pull at the spring people, to see if they have anything useful to say, then test the most obvious potential solutions.
I like that the puzzle design is intriguing without becoming obtuse. There are moments when I knew what I needed to do without knowing exactly how, but they were rare. For most of the game’s time, experimentation and exploration worked well to reveal solutions. Try to test the effects of both Mr. Push and Ms. Pull to find the best way to mix and match to make progress.
Whalien is not very long, which helps because it means gameplay never becomes repetitive. Gamers are encouraged to explore more of the world to get all the stickers. They are not exactly hidden but reaching them requires some thought and experimentation. I also had fun trying to eliminate all the small alien clumps I could find, even if they were not blocking progress.
My biggest issue is the way the camera sometimes moves around the character, especially in the tighter corridors, making it hard to see. A little more precision for the jumping would also have helped with the platform action. But the gameplay is generally engaging and interesting.
Whalien is also the kind of game that needed to have a cooperative element. Maybe Ernst should have adopted one of the aliens to get more ways to look at the environments and maybe work together on some of the puzzles. Whalien – Unexpected Guests is a bright and colorful adventure that exudes fun and happy feelings. Even the gunk and aliens that are clogging up the whale ship are cute and fuzzy.
The main character and the spring people have personalities, even if there’s no attempt at realism. It’s, overall, a great little universe to explore. All the characters communicate in short phrases in an alien language and the soundtrack, which is pretty good, is always pipped in through speakers spread throughout the whale spaceship.
The Good
- Fun world
- Push and pull mechanics
- Puzzle design
The Bad
- Relatively short
- No cooperative action
- Some camera issues
Conclusion
Despite the focus on fun, the push and pull mechanics, linked to both gloves and throwing balls, are solid and power some decent puzzles. The game could have used a little more variety and, maybe, some more alternate exploration paths. Whalien – Unexpected Guests should also have had a cooperative mode, maybe with one small alien that could help Ernest. Otherwise, the game delivers a good mix of puzzles and platforming, with a side of charm, and I really want to see how the universe can be developed to support more experiences.
A review key was provided by the publisher.
