Yarn ball
| Yarn ball | |||
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 Artwork of a red yarn ball from Yoshi's Woolly World | |||
| First appearance | Yoshi's Woolly World (2015) | ||
| Latest appearance | Yoshi's Crafted World (2019) | ||
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Yarn balls are items in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. They replace Yoshi eggs from most platform games of the Yoshi franchise in these games. As such, Yoshi can have up to six yarn balls following them at a time, and throw yarn balls much in the same way Yoshi throws eggs in the other games. Egg Plants produce yarn balls instead of Yoshi's Eggs. Egg Blocks, however, are replaced by Yarn Baskets, which make yarn balls for Yoshi.
There are many mechanics where eggs and yarn balls differ. In these games, when Yoshi eats enemies that he could turn into a Yoshi's Egg in other games, they pull the yarn the enemy consists of away and form a yarn ball in their mouth. This can also occur if Yoshi eats knots from certain bosses, namely Burt the Bashful, Miss Cluck the Insincere, and Knot-Wing the Koopa in his initial battle at Knot-Wing the Koopa's Fort. From this state, Yoshi can either create a yarn ball and have it follow him or spit the yarn ball out. When a yarn ball is spit out, it drops as it progresses because it obeys gravity. Alternatively, Yoshi can spit them while looking up to send them in an high arc under this same ruleset. Yoshi cannot spit them while crouching because of the input for creating yarn balls. Yarn balls Yoshi spits still bounce off walls. Yarn balls do not transform into more differently colored more powerful versions by bouncing off of walls. A key note is that yarn balls bounce off of Wonder Wool rather than collecting it, making for a collectable that Yoshi has to reach personally.
Yarn balls can be one of a multitude of colors. The color of a yarn ball matches the color of the enemy Yoshi swallowed; for example, eating a red Shy Guy results in a red yarn ball. Yarn balls from Yarn Baskets have random colors, though certain yarn baskets might have a more limited selection of colors based on the course they are in.
Yarn balls' reaction to hitting objects also differ from Yoshi's Eggs. Certain enemies, such as Hot Dogs, Clawdaddies, and Burrberts, get temporarily tied up when hit by a yarn ball, preventing them from moving or attacking. Yoshi can walk into a tied up enemy without taking damage. If a tied up enemy can be defeated, then Yoshi can jump on them to do so. Ukiki is a special exception, as for it being tied up is a enhanced version of being stunned after being spit out that lasts longer. This means, like with all stunned Ukiki, they can be defeated by walking into them. The bosses Bunson the Hot Dog, Baby Bowser, and Knot-Wing the Koopa in the battle at Knot-Wing the Koopa's Sky Fort are all based on using this mechanic to make the boss vulnerable to a Ground Pound. Bill Blasters and the stilts of a Stilt Guy can also be tied up, which prevents the Bill Blaster from firing and a Stit Guy from moving. The ability to tie enemies and obstacles up is not entirely a improvement over eggs: Piranha Plants and Wild Ptooie Piranhas get tied up instead of being defeated by yarn balls, requiring Yoshi to attack twice to defeat them where a egg would have done the same in one attack.
Certain other enemies have a tied up state, but in their case this is an alternate defeat animation instead of a venerable state. Some of the enemies that this occurs for are Shy Guys and Lakitu. Shy Guys bounce forward when tied up, then burst after a short time. They also burst on contact with walls and enemies. A tied up Lakitu or Wall Lakitu falls into the foreground and out of the course.This alternate defeat animation has gameplay relevance in the former case, as it leaves the Lakitu's Cloud behind in a scenario where an egg would have destroyed the cloud in the process.
When yarn balls contact wireframes of objects after being thrown or spat, they fill in the frame to create the object. Frames can be for a number of objects, including platforms, windmill blades, pipes, Present Boxes, and magic carpets. Frame Chomp and Frame Boo are enemies that follow the same principle as these objects. A Frame Boo is temporarily turned into a balloon platform, and a Frame Chomp is transformed into a Chomp Rock unless Yoshi eats the yarn of the Chomp Rock again. All of these entities' colors depends on the color of the yarn ball used to fill their frame in. Color normally has no gameplay meaning, but King Bowser's Castle has four statues of Baby Bowser that can only be filled in using yarn balls of the correct color.
If Yoshi restarts a course at the invisible checkpoint after going through a boss door, a checkpoint only usable in Mellow Mode, six yarn balls start following them when the player regains control of Yoshi.
In multiplayer mode or with Double Yoshi, Yoshi can eat other Yoshis to convert them into yarn balls. They can be spit out or set to follow Yoshi and thrown. In either case, they bounce off things yarn balls can interact with instead of ceasing to exist, and reform themselves to their Yoshi state after being used.
Yarn balls have two more powerful variations. Big yarn balls are rarer than normal yarn balls, only being available from Yarn Baskets or by eating bows. Where a yarn ball ceases to exist on contact with any entity it has an effect on, a big yarn ball does not. Instead, it shrinks to a size between a normal yarn ball and a big yarn ball and keeps moving. If a yarn ball in this in-between state hits another entity it affects, it shrinks again into a normal yarn ball. The "Make all yarn balls big!" Power Badge makes big yarn balls more easily accessible through adding various effects that in summation cause every yarn ball Yoshi obtains in any way to become a big yarn ball.
Mega Baby Bowser has the ability to create and throw giant versions of yarn balls into the air, which come down on the edges of the parapets of the tower he is fought on. These yarn balls hurt Yoshi while falling, and can break the blocks forming the parapets, but the balls are normal terrain once they have landed. If a non-black yarn ball is rightside up, Yoshi can eat a bow on them to create three big yarn balls.
Aside from these roles, yarn balls are a common visual element of Yoshi's Woolly World, appearing in various environments and backgrounds in the game. Courses that have not been unlocked yet are represented by a pair of yarn balls on a base, which form into the course's icon when it is unlocked.
Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World adds extra yarn ball functionality. In Mellow Mode, the three Poochy Pups replace Yoshi's yarn balls. As such, Yoshi is not allowed to have yarn balls following them. Any yarn ball that is created dissipates immediately, and touching a loose yarn ball has it fall off the screen. Yoshi throws the Poochy Pups instead of yarn balls, but Yoshi can still spit out yarn balls. As a general rule, the Poochy Pups can do everything yarn balls can, except that the Poochy Pups return to Yoshi in any case a yarn ball would cease existing and that gravity acts on a thrown Poochy Pup after it bounces off any surface. The Poochy Pup's mechanical differences are extensive though, including functionality beyond being projectiles. If Yoshi has the Poochy Pups out and they are not following Yoshi for any reason, then if the player tries to throw a Poochy Pup a red yarn ball will appear in Yoshi's hands to throw instead. This can be done up to three times before a cooldown starts, and only three of these red yarn balls can exist this way at the same time. Trying to throw a fourth one before one of the three despawns does not work. The Touch Screen has a button which toggles the presence of the Poochy Pups. While the Poochy Pups are called away in that button, yarn ball mechanics return to normal.
Yarn balls also appear in Yoshi's Crafted World as background elements in the course Stitched Together.
Gallery[edit]
Yoshi holding a yarn ball
Blue yarn ball
Cyan yarn ball
Orange yarn ball
Yellow yarn ball
