Scarf (2021)

Scarf is a beautiful and short ethereal experience with a special atmosphere, jumping and simple object-based puzzles. Such a pleasant little indie gem that will last an evening or two.

Scarf seems like an enjoyable casual game that you can enjoy at your own pace.

Scarf is an endearing experience. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve and doesn’t shatter the genre’s conventions with innovative ideas, but still finds enough sure footing to set itself apart from its contemporaries. Moreover, an unsurprising story and a few instances of intentional time-wasters in puzzles aren’t enough to lessen the benefits of its brisk pace and variety of gorgeous environments. It may not hit the highest highs of the genre, but if you’re in the mood for an atmospheric puzzle platformer, you could do much worse.

Even as the final moments occurred, which also felt like it came out of nowhere, it didn't feel like the player was a hero. Given the wonderful mechanics, design, personality, and narrative intentions of Scarf, the confusing storytelling is unfortunate but, thankfully, doesn't make the game any less enjoyable. While it's never fun to push story to the sidelines, doing so will let players get lost in Scarf's beautiful worlds and have an absolute blast during its short but sweet playtime.

Short but sweet, Scarf is an intriguing, enjoyable little game for most of its runtime.

Is Scarf a good game then? It’s certainly not terrible. I’d suggest it might even get lost in the shuffle that is the end-of-year period, which it doesn’t deserve. The game has a great foundation for puzzle design blended with platforming and exploration. Otherwise, the shortcomings with the game’s story aren’t intrusive enough for it to be a massive problem. It’s a solid little thing to spend a couple of evenings with.