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Lots of interactive moments, customization options, giant open world
Repetitive, frustrating solo.
Welcome to another Backlog Review, where we take a look at an older game that fans might have sitting waiting to be played or are still considering giving a purchase. This time we’re looking at Wobbly Life.
Grab your friends and explore this open-world physics sandbox where you can be almost anything. In Wobbly Life, your grandma kicks you out and demands you get a job—luckily, there are over 100 to choose from! You can be an artist who paints sculptures, or a taxi driver, or even an astronaut. Anything to make enough money to buy your own home and make grandma proud!
I really enjoy the look of this game; everything is vibrant and fun. You can interact with pretty much everything you encounter, including vehicles, props, machines, and so much more. I also appreciate that there are no active tasks outside of working and earning money, so you aren’t overloaded with objectives or quests popping up that make it difficult to decide what to do. Exploration is the name of this game, and I wandered around for a good while before picking a job to try, outside of the tutorial of course, which I’ll get to in a moment. I was impressed by the sheer size of the island; I felt like I was exploring nonstop for an hour, discovering jobs and interacting with scattered props.
The downside for me was that the time limits on jobs were too strict—I struggled to finish most of them outside the tutorial job (delivering jelly to someone’s house) and being a taxi driver. Each job you take on is timed where they give you at least four minutes, but it was never enough time for me. I started with the painting job, and could not paint the statue in time. Then, I tried making burgers but I messed up the first order and did not get the final one out in time. I also tried driving an ambulance where you have to go pick up an injured person and bring them back to the hospital, and I would either crash the ambulance into the water, or just not make it back in time—and I attempted this one multiple times.
After a while, I felt a bit frustrated. I didn’t make much money, so I wasn’t able to buy anything for my character, despite there being over 500 clothing options. I did unlock a cool jelly hat from completing the tutorial job, at least. Still, I feel like the game would have been much more fun had I played with a friend or two. The world felt empty; aside from some NPCs driving around, most were just idle inside buildings to assign jobs. There are a lot of props and items to interact with, but they felt really spread out, leaving the island with large empty spaces that could have been filled with more content or characters.
Overall, Wobbly Life is a giant, silly sandbox with tons of potential for fun, especially if you’re playing with friends. The colorful world and wide variety of jobs make it inviting, but the strict timers, clunky controls, and empty spaces can make solo play frustrating and repetitive. The game’s charm really lies in its chaotic physics, playful interactions, and the freedom to explore without being forced into a rigid structure.
Let us know what you think in the comments!
Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard criteria.
