Like the very best puzzle games, this one gets in your head and refuses to leave. I spent a solid workday thinking about the various ways I could go about the last stage in one of the main “story” chapters, before eagerly rushing home to try my scatterbrained schemes.

Another facet that burrows in your brain is the soundtrack. The music is whimsical and catchy as can be, as is the utterly delightful visual style. Though it’s a title in an entirely different genre, I couldn’t help but think of Machinarium – another indie game designed with love and boasting a unique, hand-drawn visual style. Braid comes to mind as well, but Winterbottom is a tighter overall experience.

It’s a bit on the short side (there are about 50 story stages, along with a slew of leaderboard-enabled bonus puzzles), but that’s just fine for a $10 game. It also would’ve been nice to have something of a hint system (things certainly do get tricky towards the end), but that’s a very minor beef, given that enough thought and experimentation will always yield the answers.

This is a very sweet success story for developers, The Odd Gentlemen, who started out as students with one very cool project (an early version of the game). I can’t think of a better XBLA recommendation, or a more successful “short form” puzzle game.