Tearaway

Description

Tearaway places the player in the role of “You,” a presence from outside the papercraft realm of ValleyFold, guiding a messenger named Iota or Atoi who carries a letter destined for the player themselves. The story unfolds as a journey across a landscape made entirely of paper, where rivers ripple like folded crepe and mountains peel back like origami. The Vita’s hardware features are woven into the design: the rear touch panel lets fingers appear to push through the ground, the front screen allows players to draw and cut shapes that become in‑game objects, and the camera can capture textures from the real world to apply to characters and scenery. This interplay between physical input and digital response gives the game a tactile quality unusual for its genre.

The creative ethos of Media Molecule, already established in LittleBigPlanet, is evident in Tearaway’s emphasis on customisation and playful experimentation. Players can decorate their messenger with handmade designs, craft accessories for non‑player characters, and unlock papercraft models that can be printed and assembled outside the game. The campaign is structured as a whimsical odyssey, with encounters that range from mischievous Scraps to mythic creatures, all presented with a storybook tone.

It was universally praised for its originality, charm, and the way it makes the player feel like a co‑author of the adventure. Tearaway is one of the system’s defining titles, remembered for its creativity and its ability to turn a handheld into a window onto a living paper world.