Summer Game Fest 2026 Hand-On – Out of Words
For anyone who might make the argument that video games aren’t art, I’d like to bring their attention to Out of Words from Kong Orange and WiredFly. This was another game I wasn’t aware of before Summer Game Fest, but let me tell you that this has immediately become one of my most anticipated games of 2027.
They have no mouths, yet they must scream.
In Out of Words you play as both Kurt and Karla, two adolescents who are trying to navigate their evolving feelings for one another during a period of big life changes. When one of the two life-long best friends is set to move far away, will either of them have the courage to say what’s truly on their mind, or will they remain at a loss for words?
Out of Words is a co-op adventure, much like It Takes Two and Split Fiction. You and a friend will each play as one of the two main characters, either via online cross-platform or couch co-op. Together, you’ll explore the wild, colorful realm of Vokabulantis (see what they did there?), trying to find your way back home while also trying to find the courage to say what needs to be said before it’s too late. The entirety of the world of Vokabulantis is meant to act as a metaphor for the fears that Kurt and Karla are facing due to their breakdown in communication. The longer they go without expressing how they really feel with one another, the more harsh and torn apart the world of Vokabulantis becomes.
Tossing the gravity orb back and forth while trying to get swallowed by this giant metallic frog creature was a ton of fun.
During my playthrough, I got to experience several different sections, each taking place at a different point in the game. In the beginning I got to play as Karla while the PR manager played as Kurt. We had to work together to make our way through a muddied scrapyard, navigating past rats, trash, and moving machinery.
The next section involved us swimming through some underwater cave system, where we may or may not have been stalked by something large. After making it through that section, the next part fully displayed Out of Words‘s physics-based, puzzle platforming gameplay. Gravity can have a mind of its own in Vokabulantis, and I had to work with my partner to throw an orb back and forth to one another, because the orb reversed the gravitational pull for whomever was holding it. By timing our leaps forward while tossing the orb back and forth like a game of hot potato, we were able to make it to the end of the demo successfully.
Gravity plays by its own rules in Vokabulantis.
I’ve been told that Out of Words is purposely a casual experience. The developers at WiredFly worked closely with a famous poet they’re fond of, Morten Søndergaard, and Out of Words stems from one of his ideas. They feel so moved by the concept of Out of Words that they wanted to ensure that it’s an experience that people can enjoy together, regardless of their gaming skill. The challenges here aren’t difficult, but some areas will require communication and teamwork in order to progress. That adds a whole extra element to the themes in Out of Words. In a game about not communicating, having an emphasis on communication is meant to showcase its importance.
Every single thing you see within the game was carefully handmade by masters of the craft.
Now when I said in the start of this article that Out of Words is a piece of art, I genuinely meant it. WiredFly is a stop-motion animation studio that has lovingly and painstakingly crafted each and every facet of this game. Every character is a handcrafted puppet, and every location is its own dedicated set. Character movements aren’t CGI, they’re frames taken of each character and object moved in tiny increments at time and filmed shot by shot. This is quite literally a playable stop-motion animation feature. I am so incredibly excited to play the rest of this game when it releases next year!
*All assets were provided by the publisher.
tagged with Adventure, Epic Game Store, Epic Games, Kong Orange, Morten Søndergaard, Nintendo Switch 2, Out of Words, PC, physics puzzles, Physics-based platformer, PlayStation 5, PS5, Puzzle, WiredFly, Xbox Series X|S
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