Double Fine follows up their cutesy homage to the JRPG genre Costume Quest with a puzzle adventure game that could only have sprung from the imaginations behind Psychonauts and Day of the Tentacle. Stacking is, let me see if I can get this in a sentence, a game where you play as a Russian babushka doll in the Depression era and try to rescue your family by ‘stacking’ with other dolls and using their unique abilities. Yes, that about covers it.

Stacking is a surreal and amusing game, but perhaps a touch on the short side for some tastes.

Charlie Blackmore has problems; aside, that is, from being the smallest member of his family and having to live inside all his siblings when they’re stacked together. Charlie, too small to work, has stayed home while his brothers and sisters have gone to work for The Baron and earn some money for the family. Unfortunately, being a Baron, he has kidnapped the children and forced them to work as his slaves. Reassuring his mother, Charlie sets out to rescue his family and thwart the Baron and all his dastardly dastardness.

The environments in Stacking are consistently gorgeous

Unfortunately Charlie can’t do anything other than hop around like a tiny Babushka doll with ADD. He lacks the skills of other dolls that can range from farting, singing, acting like a train, opening locked doors, or seducing a policeman. Luckily, being smaller than anyone else means Charlie can stack with other dolls and gain their abilities. Ignore the fact it’s a little creepy that your main game play mechanic is possessing people against their will like a sentient parasite, and the whole babushka mechanic is a pretty novel way to make an original adventure puzzle game.

One of the really interesting elements of Stacking is that each puzzle not only has multiple solutions, but the game actually encourages you to get creative and find all these solutions. It tallies them, giving you an achievement for uncovering them all. Many games promise multiple solutions, that often burn down to a dull kill them/kiss them scenario with little consequence, but Stacking is all about multiple solutions, it's core to the game.

It’s worth mentioning the longevity of the title as it relates to this feature. You’ll finish Stacking before long if you barrel through the game as quickly as possible, jumping on the most obvious puzzle solutions and dashing through levels. This might give you the impression you haven’t gotten your moneys worth, but there’s plenty more game there you’ve run right past. Stacking is a title to be savoured.

Possessing the sexy widow doll to distract the guard is a little creepy

In addition to the core puzzles there are a number of side quests and collecting every possible doll in each level, stacking with every doll type, presents its own set of challenges. If you’re hungry for Xbox Achievements and puzzle challenges you could spend a lot of time hunting the levels of Stacking for solutions.

The game world, with its depression era designs and silent film style cut scenes, is a delightful wonderland of weirdness both familiar and bizarre. At first glance stacking might seem like something you’d find an odd distraction or a brief amusement, but you'll find yourself getting drawn into the game for far longer than you planned. This is definitely down to a combination of intriguing art design and the balanced challenge of the puzzles. While Costume Quest began to feel repetitive in its closing level, Stacking remains fresh in the mind right until the end.

You can't tell me what to do, you don't even have a chin!

It’s hard to pick fault with Stacking. But enjoyment of the game may come down to individual taste. For some the whole premise and the game world might just come off too oddball or surreal. Its greatest achievement, a game that feels unique, will likely turn it off some gamers at the same time. So if you’re reading this and considering giving Stacking a go I strongly recommend you at least play the demo and find out what you’re missing. I promise it’ll be the best depression era set babushka doll adventure puzzle game you’ll play this year.