I didn’t grow up with Moomin, but I’ve come to know Tove Jansson’s universe and the Moominvalley through my kids, so this is an all familiar setting for me. I think that people who gravitate towards this game are mostly kids and parents that have some experience with Moomin from before, or else this world would seem very alien I believe.
The game starts off with Snufkin returning to the Moominvalley after a long winter, to find it changed and Mumintrollet gone. Parks have been established and there are police upholding law and order. It is up to you as Snufkin to go to the bottom of it, find Mumintrollet and free the Moominvalley.
In the game you walk around, discover different parts of Moominvalley and help their citizens with small everyday tasks. You help the invisible child to recover her clothes. You help Sniff to find his friend. You help Muminpappan to recover the lost pages of his masterpiece. It is all very cute and in the spirit of Moomin as I remember it from the books.
What instantly hooks me in the intro is when the music of Sigur Rós starts playing. Not sure if they’ve just licensed that particular song, or if Sigur Rós has been involved in creating the music within the game. It’s very effective in setting the mood.
I really enjoy the characters and the dialogue is well written. It is in the vein of Moomin and you can tell that the creators in this game has done their homework.
What I miss about the game is the voice acting. I started playing in English because I thought it would be voiced, but it turned out it wasn’t, so I changed the language to Swedish. In the credits I could see Norwegian people credited for voice acting, so maybe I should have played the game with language settings for Norway? It was a big bummer.
The game is small and cute. It has its moments, but it doesn’t overdeliver. Even though it is very short, it can become quite repetitive. Also the game teaches you in the beginning to walk through bushes to find inspiration, and this becomes an annoying theme to find the bushes and walk through them the whole game.
I rate this game as GOOD
Replay 