Poop Party!

Wattam’s Wonderful First Impression…

Text announces that everything was lost, and no one remembers how or why. (Yes, Wattam is yet another Japanese game about amnesia! Ahem.) All that remains is Mayor, who can’t even figure out why he is alone, the block of land in space which he inhabits, a spotlight which illuminates him, and a large rock. Mayor sits down on the large rock to lament his loneliness, then notices a small stone on the ground in the distance—he hurries over to it and picks it up: the small stone grows arms and legs and a face, waving and smiling at Mayor as text on the screen pops up, welcoming back the stone. With the baby-talk voice acting and expressive, jazzy music, it manages to be as poignant as it is absurd.

Mayor and the stone began to play together; their gay cavorting waking up the large rock upon which Mayor had sat. Welcome back, Rock! Three’s a party, so Mayor is reminded of a party trick from his former life—an exploding present he keeps under his hat. The sun rises, perhaps inspired by the pyrotechnic party trick. Welcome back, Sun! Spotlight, sadly, is no longer needed now that the sun has risen. Goodbye, Spotlight! Mayor, Stone and Rock begin to cry for their friend who, truly, was the light of their life, fertilising the earth so that grass and sprouts begin to grow. Welcome back, Sprout!

Some of the sprouts have flowerheads—their fragrance attracts Nose. Welcome back, Nose! Nose sniffs out Acorn. Welcome back, Acorn! Acorn plants itself, and with the ring-a-round-a-rosy encouragement of our ever-increasing population, grows into a Spring Tree. Welcome back, Spring Tree!

Mayor climbs Spring Tree, and picks the acorn crown from the top of its canopy. Spring Tree is not pleased, and eats Mayor—regrows Mayor as a fruit. Everyone else wants to be eaten, too! The resulting smorgasbord of culinary delights attracts Table, Mouth, Cutlery and Condiments. Welcome back, one and all!

Mouth begins to eat, digest, and poop out the populace. Welcome back, Toilet!

Welcome back…Bowling?

This ridiculous snowball of cause and effect after the poignant opening is like waking up from a state of deep anhedonia and rediscovering the joys of life—from playing with stones in the backyard, to the satisfying evacuation of one’s bowls after a delicious meal—to one’s ability to appreciate a trip to the local bowling alley.

It makes for one of the greatest, weirdly touching, beginnings to a game ever.