Umami Review

If only I could reach through the screen and eat these delicious looking dishes.

Ah, another game I played the demo of. I may be saying this a lot lately, but I guess that’s what happens when you play a ton (and I mean a ton) of demos. I’m happy this one was released as that means I’ll be able to see the other dishes that were on the menu, but that also means that my demo impression didn’t get published first. Well, unless I decide to push it to the front, but we’ll see what I end up doing. Anyway, yeah, 3D puzzles. I find 3D puzzles pretty cool in real life. I’ve only gotten the small, simple ones though; like a 3D crystal puzzle and one or two dissection model puzzle ones (I swear I remember having a frog one as a kid that I found at dollar tree, but I can’t seem to find a picture of it online). I’ve always wanted one of those 3D jigsaw puzzles or the ones where you build something out of 2D pieces that you punch out like buildings or animals.

Anyway, when I came across Umami I instantly wanted to try it. Not only was it a 3D block puzzle, but they were in the form of food. So, how did the full game turn out?

Umami features 15 puzzles and, since every puzzle has you building food, the level select is themed like you’re flipping through a recipe book. You’ll unlock levels one by one and you’ll get to see the name of the dish, the chef that cooked it, and the description of the dish before heading into the level.

Umami is actually pretty simple and easy to pick up, but there is a dash of complexity here. The level starts with all of the pieces being scattered down onto the table around the naked block tower that’s sitting right in the middle. The block tower will sport a bunch of little magnets, indicating the spots where you can put the block pieces at, and each block piece will have a magnet on them that will connect it to the block tower. You can rotate the pieces both off and on the block tower and, if you find the correct spot and orientation that they belong at, the piece will shake and snap right in. To help you out, you can also check the reference photo that shows you how the completed puzzle will look in 2D. Pretty easy right? Well, the complexity comes in with you having to think about how it looks in 3D and, as you progress, you’ll get different block tower and block piece shapes. Just take it slow, develop your strategy, and you’ll find yourself finishing the puzzle in no time.

If you need to step away from the game for any reason and you’re in the middle of a puzzle, you don’t need to worry! The game does save your progress so you don’t need to worry about having to start over. Well, unless you want to. The game also lets you view the completed puzzle after you exit the level too, which is really nice for those looking to get 100% achievement completion and lets you go back and admire it.

Aside from putting together the puzzle, you may notice that each level has the table (or space or place mat…whichever you want to call it) decorated to fit the theme of the food and the chef. You can actually click on these decorations if you want. This may not seem relevant, but one decoration in a level also hides a card. Each level has one card hidden and they all depict a really cute scene featuring the chef that made that dish. These aren’t too hard to find, I think the hardest to find for me was the first one, and if you’re like me you may be clicking them as you’re doing the puzzle anyway. After you complete the puzzle, you can also pet the animal that was incorporated into the dish.

Umami also has an in-game timer so if you want, you can challenge yourself to completing the puzzles as fast as you can. There’s a setting to have a timer be up while in a puzzle and you can check out your best times in all of the levels.

I enjoyed Umami, which isn’t surprising considering that I played the demo. It’s a nice, relaxing puzzle game that I found had the perfect balance in being easy enough that it’s approachable, but complex enough that it challenges you. It also does a good job with its difficulty curb, overall and in a level. The difficulty increases ever so slightly as you progress to the next puzzle by a couple factors, while also managing to keep it approachable. Every design here is pretty complex, but I do feel that the designs do get a bit more complex the further you go in. The 3D puzzle itself also gets a bit more complex as you’ll get different shaped block towers, with its magnets strategically placed, and blocks in different shapes to challenge your mind to try and envision how it should look in 3D and how the block pieces themselves interact with the block tower. I also feel you get more pieces, but I also didn’t count them. In the level itself, these puzzles are definitely the ones that start out hard, but get easy over time. You may go “oh boy” and sweat a bit as you see the puzzle in front of you and the reference photos, but as you find the place for a couple pieces the ball just starts rolling and before you know it, you’re already at the last couple puzzle pieces. It also helps that you’ll naturally develop your own strategy or notice some aspects that can help you. Like, you may section it off and complete it that way, find your own starting strategy, and even notice some recurring design choices the game uses to bring these creatives to life in 3D. It sometimes even is best to put a piece on the block tower as it can surprise you that you got it right or to help you orient yourself in terms of the relation of the 2D artwork to the 3D blocks (like you may think this layer that’s on the block piece would be on the second row, but it’s really on the first row). For example, I personally tended to start with the obvious part of the dish like the topper. Also, don’t be shy about going to the reference photo, I referenced it a lot as it can help you in figuring out where it is in relation to the other parts and if you have it oriented right.

Umami also ends up having a dash of addictiveness to it. I honestly was planning on doing a couple puzzles at a time, but I ended up finishing the game in my first session instead. It also does well in just having time pass by without you noticing as I was pretty surprised with how long it had its grips in me.

As for negatives that I have for Umami, I can’t really think of anything. Maybe it can be a bit annoying with how the puzzle block pieces can interact with the naked block tower sometimes, but it’s only momentary. You may also wish there were more levels, though I find that more of a compliment.

I think my favorite aspect of Umami is the visuals. I absolutely loved the art style here. It’s so cute, colorful, and it ended up transferring really well into 3D. The artwork for the main menu, the level select, and the cards are super cute (as well as the names for the different chefs). Not to mention that the food looks absolutely delicious whether it’s in the 2D illustration or in 3D. I honestly looked forward to seeing what the next dish would look like, both in 2D and 3D, and what the card for that level would look like. It was pretty satisfying slowly piecing it together and it was pretty crazy seeing how some of the dishes looked in 3D. I also loved how each level’s table was decorated differently and was themed around the dish, the occasion you would serve the dish in, the chef themselves, or a combination of them all. I honestly couldn’t choose which dish or level that I liked the most as they all looked really cute and great.

The music here is nice. It’s what you’ll hear when you go to a lo-fi playlist and it helps give the game a vibe of a relaxing puzzle evening. This also means you can easily listen to something else while doing the puzzles here, which I also did. The sound effects were also nice, fit with the object you were interacting with, and I couldn’t help but click everything that was decorating the level.

Verdict

Umami is a super cute and delightful 3D block puzzle game that manages to strike a great balance in difficulty. Allowing the game to be easily approachable and relaxing, but complex and challenging enough that it tests your mind. Not to mention that it also has a sprinkle of addictiveness in it as you may find yourself going “okay just one more puzzle” as it is pretty satisfying building the various dishes piece by piece. Sometimes, you just want a simple, chill game and Umami is just that. This is an easy recommendation. Just don’t play this game on an empty stomach as it can easily make you hungry.

Also, I hope we’ll get more levels in the form of DLCs. Personally, I’d like to see more savory dishes, as the majority here are sweet dishes, and maybe even drinks. After all, why not go all in on the recipe book aesthetic the puzzle select menu has.