The Maw

The Maw is a short platformer with light puzzle elements, in which a small alien boy named Frank ends up on an alien planet after a prison ship crash, together with a cute purple creature nicknamed Maw, which he leads around on a rope-like leash. Maw can devour almost anything it encounters, and by gaining new abilities from the creatures it swallows - such as breathing fire, flying, or turning invisible - the player gradually solves simple puzzles and opens up the way to further parts of the planet. The game relies on light-hearted humor, a cute visual style, and short, tight levels without unnecessarily padding out the gameplay.

The Maw was originally released only as a downloadable game for Xbox Live Arcade in 2009, where the publisher split it into a base game and two paid episodes with additional content, new abilities, and new creatures, released gradually over the following months. The game didn't arrive on PC until 2011 via Steam, and by then as a complete package - both additional episodes were included directly in the base price, with no need to buy them separately as the original Xbox version required with its staggered rollout.

On the computer, the controls were adapted to keyboard and mouse instead of a gamepad, which somewhat changed the feel of leading Maw around on its leash and aiming its newly gained abilities, but the game remained fully playable with a connected controller for players who preferred a gamepad anyway. Steam achievements were also added, replacing the trophies and achievements from Xbox Live. The levels themselves, the puzzles, and the story stayed the same as on Xbox, so the PC version was mainly a more convenient and immediately complete way to play through the whole game at once without waiting for further installments. The overall length of the game stayed short on PC as well, corresponding more to a short afternoon title than a sprawling platformer, which matched developer Twisted Pixel Games' original intention of offering a short, funny experience without unnecessary padding.

Why play it: For players who prefer keyboard and mouse and Steam achievements over Xbox Live trophies - it's the same levels, puzzles, and story as on Xbox, just in a shorter, afternoon-sized portion.