She Remembered Caterpillars

Challenging, magical, and full of depth, this dreamlike game from the Kassel-based studio jumpsuit entertainment makes a strong first impression. The game features fantastic visuals, a great attention to detail, and excellent art direction. Unusual characters, dreamlike settings, and an atmospheric soundtrack transport players to a microscopic world full of secrets and puzzles. This color-based puzzle game featuring colorful caterpillars is intuitive, skillfully designed, and well-balanced. She Remembered Caterpillars starts off very easy and becomes increasingly tricky. The puzzle-filled levels are interwoven with a narrative that tells a story of love, grief, and acceptance. It’s an unusual children’s game that trusts children to be capable.

Players must develop strategies, internalize the basic principles of subtractive color mixing (e.g., red and blue make purple), and exercise their cognitive skills to learn the fundamental lesson: only through symbiosis can we move forward. The world we find ourselves in remains open to interpretation; why we’re here and where we’re headed isn’t made clear. It teaches us to stay curious, to seek to understand this fascinatingly alien culture, to join forces, and to never give up.

The DCP Jury 2017