If there’s one game I’ve been having a hard time waiting for this year, it’s – ironically – While Waiting, the new fidgety puzzle game from the makers of 2021’s gorgeous Moncage. I say ‘fidgety’, as this is arguably about as far away from a traditional puzzle game as you can possibly get. For example, each of its 100+ scenarios aren’t there so much to be ‘solved’ as to be prodded, poked and pushed to find out exactly how much restless fun you can cram into life’s little idle moments – waiting in line at a theme park, say, or waiting for your luggage to arrive at the airport carousel.
While in real life, you might indulge in a bit of phone-based doomscrolling, say, While Waiting takes a more absurdist view of things – why not go round the luggage carousel yourself, for instance? Or engage in a PowerPoint clicker war with your boss as you try and make a boring office presentation more lively? Finding these little moments of idle silliness is all part of While Waiting’s charm, and the good news is that its brand-new Steam Next Fest demo has added a bunch of new levels to try while we wait for its final release in early 2025.
You can, of course, just ‘wait’. Each scenario is timed to end eventually, and you’ll be rewarded for ‘doing nothing’ and generally being a regular human being in these situations – things like ‘wait for a game to finish downloading’, or ‘wait for the elevator’. But let’s be serious. While Waiting is not really a game about actually waiting. It’s about causing maximum chaos in the time that’s available to you, and making the most of each and every moment, whether that’s imagining an arcade space shooter in the fogged up café window while you wait for a bus, or wiggling around like a wormy physics ragdoll on your parents arms as you wheel your legs around to kick a nearby fairground detritus into a trashcan. It’s about finding joy in the mundane – a good mantra for life generally, if nothing else – and its playful, classical piano score only serves to underline all your maniacal, mischievous mayhem.
You’re given a gentle steer on what you’re able to achieve in these short spaces of time, too, as each level has its own accompanying notebook of cryptic hints for you to figure out. Fulfil these objectives and you’ll be rewarded with an accompanying sticker, acting as a sort of checklist for each level. For instance, you can probably guess what ‘Eye to Eye’ might mean while you’re waiting for the loo in a public bathroom, but ensuring it actually happens is another matter entirely. The same goes for figuring out what ‘Screen Shiner’ might entail as your double-chinned protagonist plays a mobile game on his smartphone. They’re obscure enough so they’re not completely obvious, but just clear enough to tug at the edges of your imagination, and the joyous discovery of doing something correctly is exactly what makes While Waiting feel so brilliantly inventive.
You won’t be able to get all the stickers from one level in a single sitting, either, as almost all of them have some form of ‘Do Nothing’ as well, where you’ll simply need to do what the game says on the tin and let the level play out without indulging your fidgety instincts (though brilliantly, if you whack Tab repeatedly, it will bring up its very own in-game fidget button that speeds up time and brings the level to a close much faster). Ultimately, though, While Waiting is just brilliant fun – and you’ve got to admire a game that opens with the line ‘This is a long story about waiting. It may get boring at times.’ This is a game that knows what it’s about, and I love it for it. So I implore you not to delay any longer and simply get that Steam Next Fest demo downloaded as soon as you can. Here’s hoping the wait until its full release in early 2025 goes by nice and quickly.