T he hand-sketched wintry setting might lend extra bite to the seasonal chill, but at times the antics of Blanc’s improbable animal pairing are enough to thaw the coldest of hearts. Separated from their families during a squall, a young fawn and a wolf pup are the stars of a puzzle adventure in which they journey to reunite with their kin. Shaded in thick graphite, the pup has the personality of a Yorkie with less yap; the fawn, in all its adorable gangliness, is even more convincingly realised. If only their game didn’t feel quite so clumsy.
At its best, Blanc presents an appealing hand-drawn world in which the unlikely allies can gambol happily together, scampering across snowy plains, their paths elegantly criss-crossing one another. Assuming, that is, you’re able to master steering them both at once with the analogue sticks, or you have a co-op partner to guide the one you’re not controlling. Played alone, it reminds us of the self-collaborative hook of Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons, albeit without the same gradual acclimatisation to its unconventional controls, which lent extra emotional heft to its devastating endgame.