Claybook

Claybook is a physics-based puzzle game from Second Order where you play as children who literally step inside a storybook made of clay. The core mechanic is possession: you inhabit clay blobs, morph their shape, and use that malleability to solve environmental puzzles spread across diorama-style chapters. Roll through gaps as a sphere, flatten into a disc to slide under barriers, or stretch your form to bridge gaps. The whole thing is rendered in a tactile, stop-motion aesthetic that genuinely looks like someone sculpted each level by hand. On that front alone, Second Order deserves credit. This is a small team swinging at an ambitious visual idea, and the world they built has a quiet, weekend-afternoon warmth to it. The puzzles themselves are where Claybook gets complicated. Early chapters lean on straightforward momentum and shape-shifting, and there is a real satisfaction in figuring out which form gets you through a tight corridor or across a liquid obstacle. The clay simulation means surfaces deform, liquid clay sloshes with weight, and your blob leaves physical marks on the world. That interactivity is genuinely rare and worth experiencing at least once. The problem is that the physics, while impressive as a technical showcase, can work against you. Blobs behave unpredictably, checkpoints feel spaced for frustration rather than flow, and some puzzles tip from brain-teaser into physics-lottery territory where you are repeating the same attempt and hoping the simulation cooperates. There is a co-op component that lets additional players join, and the chaos of shared clay physics with a friend softens some of the solo frustration. Playing with someone who finds the jank funny rather than enraging is probably the recommended delivery method. The level design also opens up slightly in later chapters, giving you more room to experiment with the morphing system rather than threading a needle through tight geometry. If you push past the rougher opening sections, Claybook does find a more comfortable rhythm. The soundtrack and ambient audio deserve a specific mention because they are doing quiet, important work. The soundscape carries that handmade-toy-box feeling throughout, soft and unobtrusive, which keeps the mood grounded even when the physics are misbehaving. It is the kind of audio design that you notice more when you imagine the game without it. Visually, the clay deformation holds up well and the chapter-book framing gives each world a distinct palette. This is clearly a passion project shaped by people who cared about the look and feel of clay as a medium, not just as a gimmick. With Mixed reviews sitting just under 70 percent positive, Claybook is a game that lands differently for different players. Those who bounce off it usually cite the control imprecision and physics unpredictability, and those complaints are fair. Those who stick with it tend to appreciate the novelty of the simulation and the handcrafted visual personality. If you have a high tolerance for physics-game friction, a soft spot for unusual aesthetics, or a co-op partner who shares both, there is something genuinely worthwhile here that most storefronts will never tell you about.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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