Where’s Samantha? Review: Puzzling Cloth Clones Do Their Thing
A video gaming YouTube channel I subscribe to introduces every video with a play on painter Bob Ross’s famous “happy little trees” line, except PatmanQC changes it to “happy little games.” This is relevant only because Patman’s line is the first thing that popped into my head about two minutes into playing ROKiT Games’ Where’s Samantha?, because it is, indeed, a happy little game...albeit one that has a few wonky issues.
Inoffensive, non-violent, family-friendly experiences aren’t always the easiest to find nowadays, so when I come across one like Where’s Samantha, it’s typically a breath of fresh air in comparison to the more intense titles that litter the iOS and Android platforms. With its cute little cloth-based characters, a color-changing mechanic that will let you either grow or split yourself up, and its generally smart but quite repetitive platforming, a more casual crowd will certainly find things to enjoy here. It’s just important to keep your expectations in check as you begin digging a little deeper, as many levels tend to run together with their overall similarities. It’s not unusual to feel a sense of “déjà vu all over again” as you bound your way through the game.
Where’s Samantha? tells the story of George and Samantha, two swatches of fabric who are head over heels for each other. They’re inseparable—that is, until a sudden gust of wind blows Sam away, and George has to go on a dangerous adventure into a strange realm in order to try and bring her home. This new world is a place full of saw blades, moving platforms, lasers, spikes—all the typical tropes that a puzzle platformer throws at you, but given a homespun twist as the spikes are made from screws and combs and the platforms from pencils tied to wooly pull strings.
‘Tis a treacherous place, indeed, but George is not alone, because he can split himself into other Georges—other fabric swatches. This leads to one of the more unique aspects of Where’s Samantha?, which is the ability to split and combine characters. A stack of swatches together is heavier, better able to trigger bottle-cap pressure plates and lower gravity-driven elevators, but less able to jump. When split into two or three smaller pieces, George and his clones can jump higher and interact with different elements of a stage in unison.
This ability to split and rejoin swatches is the core gameplay mechanic at the textile heart of Where’s Samantha?. With up to three different swatches in action at once, some with unique abilities like a double jump, there are plenty of different possible configurations, and all of them have their place. We’re not just talking about simple things like splitting to stand on separate pressure plates, but figuring out all the different ways that all the different configurations interact with the rest of each level. A single piece can jump higher, but that isn’t always a benefit—sometimes the weight of a stack is needed to stop a springboard from launching you directly into a spiky comb. And when you divide in two (or three), you still need to find a way to get the clones to the end of the level.
Depending on your aptitude for solving puzzles, this can be a frustrating experience, with that frustration exacerbated by little annoyances that get in the way of focusing on the solution itself. Carelessness or lack of foresight can lead to making a level unsolvable. If you split your fabric lads in a way that means they can’t be recombined or can’t all get to the end, the only option then is to start over again. Granted, the levels aren’t huge, but it’s still a pain to have to replay sections because you inadvertently backed yourself into a corner.
Where’s Samantha? also struggles to introduce new mechanics in a proper fashion. Tutorials for new elements come in the form of pictograms, but these drawings are often hazy about what concept they’re trying to get across. Even just moving about can be a bit of a pain, especially using touch controls rather than a true controller. Unreliable physics and inflexible hit detection make it easy to accidentally fall off a ledge or to die on a saw blade that you know for a FACT that you didn’t actually touch. This is acutely awkward when it comes to the clone swatches—while you’re in control of one clone, it’s not unusual for an inactive clone to just tumble off a ledge, especially when you’re navigating tiny platforms, slopes, or hills. The music must also be mentioned when it comes to grievances with this experience, as the entire soundtrack is only a single, particularly annoying tune that loops ad infinitum throughout each and every level.
How much mileage you get out of Where’s Samantha? is going to hinge on your patience with its ingenious but inflexible approach to how its puzzles are put together. The game puts forth some clever concepts, and if finding cryptic solutions is your bag, then you’ll enjoy what’s offered here. Despite the real coolness of the fabric-world theme, though, little frustrations and an overall lack of variety truly hamstring this title, making it one for only the most dedicated of puzzleheads.
SCORE: 2 STARS OUT OF 5
PLAY IF YOU LIKE:
• Yoshi’s Wooly World. Give Where’s Samantha? a whirl if Nintendo’s super cute Wii offering was in your wheelhouse.
• The Swapper. Where’s Samantha? may not have the indie cred of this title, but its creativity (and obtuse puzzle design, honestly) are definitely in a similar realm.
Have you played WHERE'S SAMANTHA? Let us know what you think of it in the comments!
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