Tearaway is Media Molecule’s 2013 PlayStation Vita platform adventure, a papercraft journey that turns the handheld’s touch, camera, motion, and microphone features into part of its world.
Tearaway follows a messenger named Iota or Atoi, depending on the player’s choice, through a handmade paper world on a mission to deliver a message to the person holding the Vita. Its central trick is direct address: the player is not only controlling the messenger, but is treated as a presence peering into the world through the handheld screen.
The game mixes 3D platforming, light puzzles, collectibles, and character customization with hardware-specific interactions. Players use the rear touch pad to push fingers up through the scenery, tap the front screen to move objects or decorate characters, tilt the system, speak into the microphone, and use the camera to place real-world images into the papercraft environment. These inputs are framed as part of the fiction rather than as detached gimmicks.
Its visual identity is built around folded paper, cutout creatures, crumpled landscapes, and printable craft designs. Media Molecule uses that style to make even simple actions feel tactile, with characters and environments looking as if they could be assembled from card stock, glue, and scissors. The music and sound design lean into the same playful handmade tone.
Tearaway became one of the PlayStation Vita’s signature exclusives and one of the clearest showcases for the handheld’s unusual inputs. It won BAFTA Games Awards for Artistic Achievement, Family, and Mobile & Handheld, and received further nominations for design, innovation, audio, technology, and art direction across major awards bodies.