Game review: You'll need a friend to play Unravel Two properly

Unravel Two features new characters best played with someone playing on the couch next to you.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. These school holidays weren't supposed to go like this. I was supposed to be outside with my son, building things, hitting things and kicking things, doing all the stuff an 8-year-old with endless energy loves to do.

Instead, thanks to a back injury, I've been stuck inside. That means my son and I have had plenty of no-holds-barred screen time, and that's mostly taken up by two cute balls of wool bouncing around each other. Yes, Yarny's back, and this time, he's got a friend.

You'll need a spare friend too if you're going to play Unravel Two properly. The sequel to Coldwood Interactive's excellent 2015 platform adventure doubles down on its wool-swinging antics by increasing its ambitions and giving you a blue buddy to play with.

That means you'll want someone sitting alongside you on the couch to help you work your way through Yarny's knitted, knotty world. You'll need to work together to solve Unravel Two's puzzles, which kick off simple enough, but get more complicated as you go on.

It works like this: one of you will need to activate a swing to push the other up. Or one will have to swing up to a platform so the other can abseil up. At other times, you'll need to use yarn to build bridges, avoid electric shocks, sneak past pesky birds and adjust water spouts to shoot skyward. All of this needs to be done in tandem, which means you might have a few timing mishaps.

But that makes Unravel Two the perfect game to play with a buddy. Unravel Two was cute enough to hold my son's attention while keeping things at the right difficulty level. I could do the more complicated bits, while my son did the easier stuff. If it ever got too much, there's a neat option in which one Yarny can jump on the back of another to hitch a ride.

It also looks amazing. Unravel Two has far more graphic depth that the first, with animations constantly activated in the background. Moose might wander around a field on a farm. Cars might drive past in a city street at night. Birds might ruin a beach picnic.

But be warned: those graphics add a darker touch to Unravel Two. Spooky visuals involving ghost families play out in the background, and there are levels involving whispy black fire clouds that can - and will - end your game.

it might freak your kids out too - my son certainly got spooked during a couple of those moments. Aside from that, Unravel Two is addictive platforming fun, and well worth putting your knitting down for - or anything else you might have had planned.

Unravel 2

Platform: Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC
Rating: G
Verdict: Best untangling this one with a little buddy beside you