The Tale of Yarny: Unravel

Sometimes the best stories don't come to us in the form of books. Sometimes, they happen when you least expect them. This is Unravel, which uses no words at all--just a tale of love, family, memory, and a little figure made of bright red yarn.


Made by a group of 14 people in Sweden inspired by adventures with their grandchildren, Unravel is a chapter-by-chapter game that tells of Yarny, who magically comes to life out of an escaped ball of yarn. The goal of the game is to safely guide Yarny through various environments to help him collect memories of an elderly woman's life without letting him...well unravel.

Sounds simple enough, right? Not exactly. You'd be surprised how quickly you get attached to this little guy and how challenging getting him around can be. While Unravel was not always easy, I found the blend of lush scenery (inspired by Northern Sweden), folk music, and Yarny's sweet animations very captivating. Also, as somebody who experiences minor bouts of anxiety, Unravel is quite calming due to its gentle pacing and heartwarming storyline.


With such a big love for Unravel, I was beyond happy to learn the game's director, Martin Sahlin, made a video/step-by-step tutorial on how to create your own Yarny. You can find that here.

Making Yarny took about 9 hours (not including the mandatory Nutella milkshake break my boyfriend and I had to go on). I finished the eyes today. Here's how he turned out:

Just look at this little guy! A couple of things I would do differently next time is work with a smaller wire skeleton and choose a thinner yarn for the eyes. I ended up hand-sewing those because the paperclip wouldn't poke through the red yarn. Still, I love my Yarny very much, and he's getting a place on my bookshelf so we can go on our own adventures.

Find Unravel here.