The trend of chasing long, door-hunt style quests has faded. Modern players want momentum, novelty, and creative twists. That’s precisely what Whatland from Caligari Games delivers. It starts with a classic scavenger mechanic but quickly folds in innovations that keep the experience fresh, so it doesn’t feel retro in the least. The game had a delayed PC release, and now it’s edging onto consoles, offering a complete run that leaves no regrets and plenty to discuss.
Land of indifference
In this tale, the player steps into the shoes of Vincent, a young thief whose attempt at lifting jewels from a witch’s home goes unpredictably awry. The plan is flawless until a slip of fate lands him inside a refrigerator, then a landfill, and a completely unknown world that seems crafted from dreams and warnings.
This world operates as a time-less prison, where Beatrice the witch decides who deserves a second chance or a fate you might call punishment. Not all residents wear villain’s masks. Some are simply lost souls who have earned a reprieve through Beatrice’s peculiar mercy, while others might still be plotting something darker beneath their quiet exteriors.
The Waterland introduction channels the same whimsical energy that defined Deponia, placing the thief in the middle of a sprawling, landfill-bound setting. Vincent soon meets Nikolai, a prisoner and writer who explains that Beatrice once conjured a spell to summon her to Waterland. The catch is that the key spell piece was scattered among seven early prisoners. Now Vincent and Nikolai must reunite those fragments to break the witch’s hold and free themselves from this strange, looping fate.
While the premise is intriguing, the payoff doesn’t promise grand revelations. The primary task remains the spell itself, and the moral landscape mirrors that simplicity. The world’s potential feels vast, yet the storytelling leaves room for deeper exploration that never fully arrives, leaving some wishes unfulfilled despite a rich underlying setup.
The developers inject non-linearity, a feature they spoke about with evident pride. In practice, it evolves into a choice: rely on professional thievery to steal a piece of the spell, or guide the townspeople to solve their issues so the spell components reveal themselves. Correct moves glow with a sun symbol, while theft-led choices glow with a moon symbol, signaling the path taken and its consequences.
What do you think about quests?
New generation quest
As Vincent plays the role of a model thief with a conscience, the game introduces a slate of mini-games that sit alongside the more traditional heists. The developers replace the old, rigid pixel-hunt with bite-sized challenges that always feel fresh, a choice that pays off overall. Yet, as the game progresses, there’s a whisper of desire for a more demanding test—some extra weight on the screen or in the brain would have helped sustain momentum beyond the early hours.
One mini-game is designed to be unwinnable, a tongue-in-cheek nod to structure and luck that breaks the conventional rhythm. Beyond that, the standout challenge is a board game that takes center stage in the later sections. Caligari Games is clearly proud of this feature, and its repeated references in dialogue underscore its importance. The board is a simple grid with four creatures, each endowed with a unique magical ability and a distinct move range. The goal is straightforward enough: guide a puck-like ball to the opponent’s goal by any means, score, and advance. A child would grasp the basics instantly, but the ruleset and the strategic depth can pull the narrative off track for hours at a stretch.
The board game, while charming, could have benefited from deeper layers. There are a handful of power players in Waterland who must be bested to advance the plot. Fortunately, magical yarn balls are scattered around the city, preventing collision-heavy stalemates and ensuring that occasional calm can punctuate the action. The final confrontation remains a fixed hurdle that must be faced with a mix of skill and luck, with little reason to skip it beyond personal frustration.
Character development takes a back seat to the world itself. The cast is clear and functional, but the writing stops at surface-level encounters, rarely drifting into who Vincent was before the heist, why he chose this life, or how Nikolai arrived at his fate. The game invites players to project themselves onto the thief, but the opportunity to truly understand the protagonists is left largely unexplored. The narrative leaves room for personal interpretation rather than delivering a fully formed backstory to anchor the players’ choices.
Waterland unfolds across a map of interconnected locations that can be traversed in any direction. There is no rigid progression path, and an intuitive helper highlights active places, letting players survey the city quickly and avoid dead-ends. The design encourages exploration rather than linear sprinting, a deliberate choice that suits the game’s atmospheric, wandering vibe.
The city itself blends visual cues from Paris, the Deponia series, and even a nod to the Dishonored aesthetic. The art style is a standout: a charming, cohesive blend of details and characterful silhouettes that makes every corner feel alive. The moment of arrival is a visual feast, inviting players to linger, notice little touches, and fall under Waterland’s spell for a little while longer.
Nighttime melodies and a boldly realized soundtrack give Waterland its heartbeat. The score leans into accordion, trumpet, cello, and a suite of other instruments that fuse into a living, breathing atmosphere. The auditory texture enhances the sense of place, convincing players they are truly wandering through a city that both delights and unsettles in equal measure.
Caligari Games has produced a compact, stylish adventure that suits several evenings of casual play. It doesn’t demand constant brainpower or force large philosophical questions; instead, it offers a pleasant, atmospheric ride with approachable puzzles, a warm soundscape, and charming visuals. It’s the kind of game that invites you to savor the city, meet its inhabitants, and simply enjoy the journey. The credits leave a wish for more, a mark of genuine affection for Waterland as a space to revisit and discover anew.
Have you played Waterland?
Note: The game stands as a playful, well-crafted experience that balances light, engaging puzzles with a visually rich, whimsical world. Its strengths lie in its art direction, music, and the way it encourages exploration and a relaxed pace rather than relentless challenge.