The Maw - XBLA

Author: Frank of Game-Boyz.com

The Maw, an Xbox LIVE Arcade (XBLA) title developed by Twisted Pixel Games, was honoured with the Audience Choice Award in the 2008 PAX-10 showcase of independent games, and is a finalist at this year's Independent Games Festival for Technical Excellence. The game stars a large purple blob concerned mostly with snacking and lounging around. At first it may seem like he is pretty much a slob, but he can absorb the traits of anything he eats and is virtually indestructible. If he weren’t a danger to all life in the universe he'd make the perfect pet. In this action/adventure/platform game, the Maw is the best friend of our hero Frank, and only by working together can the Maw eat both their way to freedom. So how does this XBLA title fair? Read on.

The Maw is a brightly coloured platformer game, with a little action and adventure elements, that tells the story of Frank and the Maw. Frank is a blue human-like alien imprisoned against his will by some generic alien overlords, and the Maw is a gelatinous purple blob with one bulbous eye sitting precariously on top. The prison ship they are on crashes on a planet and Frank gets to lead the Maw on his hunt to escape. At first a gelatinous purple blob is not very useful, that is until he eats his first indigenous cute and cuddly alien which basically sets up the object of the game. Your job is to guide the Maw through the game's various levels, eating everything in your path. The more the Maw eats, the bigger he gets. The Maw is not very smart though so the game has you doing all the leg work. Frank is armed with an electronic plasma leash which allows you to grab objects and drag them across the screen, while also allowing you to grab characters and the Maw himself. You can also throw items, lobbing them across the level or straight into the jaws of the Maw. There are many places you can’t get to with Maw and you will often have to go off by yourself and solve most of the games puzzles.

The puzzles are usually pretty straight forward and can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Being an arcade title the game’s controls are quite easy to figure out and master after a few plays. It took me a few plays to get a handle on grabbing and throwing things, but it becomes second nature fairly quickly. Some of the game’s levels will require a bigger Maw to get up or around things so frequent feedings are a necessity. There are tons of creatures for the Maw to chow down on throughout the game so finding food is never a problem. In addition, some of the creatures grant the Maw special powers, such as the ability to flame everything in the vicinity, to shoot lasers or to fire electric pulses. These help with certain puzzles and even give the Maw a charming new skin tone for the remainder of the level. While playing I thought The Maw was a fun and amusing distraction for older gamers wanting something simple, bright and not so serious or dark like which some adult oriented games out there contain. That being said I think that some of the younger gamers will absolutely love the game. My young son seemed to really like the colourful levels and easy to follow gameplay.

Despite the praise thus far, The Maw does have its problems. Sadly the game is fairly short and can be completed over a couple of hours of hardcore gaming. Add to this that the there is no multiplayer mode and you have a good game that is rather short and offers no real replay value. Of course for the purists, the achievements are always a challenge and something I like to finish in any game. Overall, the 800 Microsoft price point is a bit steep for when you consider other lengthier games that have been released on XBLA at that price point. The good news is that the developers are planning on releasing three deleted scenes (additional levels left out of the full game) for 100 points each. That should make the game’s length a little longer, but it also pushes up the price to 1,100 points.

If The Maw’s gameplay doesn’t keep you interested then the beautiful graphics should. For such a simple game the creators should be commended on the gorgeous presentation. The cartoon visuals are bright and fun. All of the aliens are beautifully detailed and delightful to look at. They are also bursting with personality. It is amazing to see that so many emotions can be put onto something that is essentially a purple blob. Throughout the game your Maw will look embarrassed, proud and terrified to name a few emotions. It often had my four year old son howling with laughter and I even chuckled from time to time. The game is quite nice to look at but I did find the levels seem to meld into one another, using essentially the same textures and effects throughout. Only the pickiest gamer may make a fuss about this fact though as most will be too busy to really notice the repetition. Technically I noticed no frame rate issues and only the slightest signs of clipping scattered throughout. I must admit The Maw is easily one of the better looking games in the XBLA library.


The sounds in the game are very appropriate and match the bouncy cutesy theme of the game quite well. The Maw itself is a grunting, wheezing mess and is portrayed perfectly. You can almost feel what he is feeling or thinking with just a glance. In fact his emotions are captured with such accuracy as each emotion is accompanied by suitably monster-like sound effect. This is very cool and adds a lot to the enjoyability of the game. Our other main character, Frank, while less memorable also offers a certain charm. When the Maw is out of reach he will be left calling for his friend in a sound bite that can get kind of annoying, but it is definitely cute in the beginning. The music takes the right approach of being pleasant enough, and not too distracting; however most people would be hard-pressed to be able to hum any of the tunes after shutting down the game. The music reminded me of some old African tribal kind of beat, both mysterious and pleasant at the same time. Of course the game is in full Dolby Digital, which is helpful for hearing enemies from behind.


The Maw is a brightly colored platformer game, with a little action and adventure elements, that tells the story of Frank and the Maw. Frank is a blue human-like alien imprisoned against his will by some generic alien overlords, and the Maw is a gelatinous purple blob with one bulbous eye sitting precariously on top. The prison ship they are on crashes on a planet and Frank gets to lead the Maw on his hunt to escape. At first a gelatinous purple blob is not very useful, that is until he eats his first indigenous cute and cuddly alien which basically sets up the object of the game. Your job is to guide the Maw through the game's various levels, eating everything in your path. The more the Maw eats, the bigger he gets. The Maw is not very smart though so the game has you doing all the leg work. Frank is armed with an electronic plasma leash which allows you to grab objects and drag them across the screen, while also allowing you to grab characters and the Maw himself. You can also throw items, lobbing them across the level or straight into the jaws of the Maw. There are many places you can’t get to with Maw and you will often have to go off by yourself and solve most of the games puzzles.

The puzzles are usually pretty straight forward and can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Being an arcade title the game’s controls are quite easy to figure out and master after a few plays. It took me a few plays to get a handle on grabbing and throwing things, but it becomes second nature fairly quickly. Some of the game’s levels will require a bigger Maw to get up or around things so frequent feedings are a necessity. There are tons of creatures for the Maw to chow down on throughout the game so finding food is never a problem. In addition, some of the creatures grant the Maw special powers, such as the ability to flame everything in the vicinity, to shoot lasers or to fire electric pulses. These help with certain puzzles and even give the Maw a charming new skin tone for the remainder of the level. While playing I thought The Maw was a fun and amusing distraction for older gamers wanting something simple, bright and not so serious or dark like which some adult oriented games out there contain. That being said I think that some of the younger gamers will absolutely love the game. My young son seemed to really like the colorful levels and easy to follow gameplay.

Despite the praise thus far, The Maw does have its problems. Sadly the game is fairly short and can be completed over a couple of hours of hardcore gaming. Add to this that the there is no multiplayer mode and you have a good game that is rather short and offers no real replay value. Of course for the purists, the achievements are always a challenge and something I like to finish in any game. Overall, the 800 Microsoft price point is a bit steep for when you consider other lengthier games that have been released on XBLA at that price point. The good news is that the developers are planning on releasing three deleted scenes (additional levels left out of the full game) for 100 points each. That should make the game’s length a little longer, but it also pushes up the price to 1,100 points.

I think most gamers will fall in love with The Maw’s charm and simplistic gameplay. With beautiful presentation and style that matches most full-priced retail Xbox 360 titles; the game really stands out on the Xbox LIVE Arcade catalog. However, the game is done in a mere few hours and there is no multi-player aspect which hurts the overall replay value. That being said, I think one of the The Maws greatest strengths is how refreshing it can be to have an original, charming and memorable game that can be polished off in a relaxing few hours. There is no fear of having to redo huge sections or having to perform gamepad miracles. Perhaps it’s good that the Maw is a short game, because it certainly is sweet.