Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley

Tove Jansson is the creator of the Moomin series, where children's books, television series and movies have kept the series going for years. The stories have offered a cast of interesting characters, thoughts about life and all in a world from your wildest imagination. Yet, so far there has not been a full-fledged adventure game.

In March 2024 we're finally getting just this, a title from Hyper Games called Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley that let's players experience life as Snufkin does. In recent years we have received a selection of so-called "cosy gaming" experiences, and this is what Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley can be boiled down to at it's most basic elements.

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley starts right after winter, when Snufkin arrives to Moominvalley. Something has happened and now the valley is now filled with boring parks guarded by the police, each of whom get their orders from a mysterious park ranger. Construction sites that have popped up too have put the local animals on edge, and the area around Moominhouse suffers from drought. Plus, where is Moomintroll?

Moominvalley has changed, and it is here where players get to explore and have an adventure. From a visual standpoint Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a beautiful game. The watercolour scenery reflects something creator Tove Jansson would have cooked up, and starting from the first cutscene the game leaves an impression. While out and about, the camera follows Snufkin without any problems in the 3D world. Moominvalley's birch trees, flowing rivers and general verticality all work perfectly, and the game looks really nice while playing both on a big screen and on handheld mode on the Switch.

The music is done by Kjartan Sveinsson and Oda Tilset, and their tunes fit nicely into this slow-paced and mostly enjoyable adventure game. There are a few action scenes, and the music fits into the action as well, however, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley doesn't have any voice acting, as the dialogue is delivered via text boxes, and there are a lot of them. Sometimes the frame rate even takes hits when there is a transition from gameplay to cutscene in an intense moment. I do hope this will be fixed with an update as I also noticed some frame rate dips when there are multiple characters on screen.

Snufkin meets familiar characters and some new ones as well, and this is how the story moves forward all around Moominvalley. In time the game expands just like in Metroidvania games, because Snufkin gets new instruments to add to his backpack. First there is only a harmonica, but later he gets a flute and a drum, for example. And then it's time to interact with the game world where the game clearly let's you know what instrument is supposed to be used in an any given situation, which makes things easier for younger players. You need certain instruments to reach certain sections of the game, and this is how the game pushes the player forward. When there is about a third of the game left, you get a chance to go back and visit all the places you want, and to ensure you don't get lost, the map has red and yellow dots for different missions.

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley offers extra things to do as well, like collecting Moominpappa's memoir pages and gathering resources from the forest, where sometimes you get a reward for doing so. I enjoyed exploring this beautiful and linear world so much, that I didn't mind not being able to go inside Moominhouse and other such buildings.

The only problem with the controls is how Snufkin jumps. You press B when standing in front of a ledge and from here you get a crude animation about where Snufkin is going to land. In other words, every jump requires you to stop and aim and this makes jumping cumbersome and imprecise. You are not usually in a hurry while playing, but there are chase sections when you need trial and error in order to make successful jumps. In time you learn to live with it, but cumbersome controls are something to take note of.

I was surprised that a few more philosophical characters become verbal opponents to Snufkin. They doubt whether Snufkin can save Moominvalley alone and it's this multi-layered adventure that keeps older players engaged. At times the writers have made choices that force Snufkin to act out of character, which doesn't always work, but I have to say that the hunt for the mysterious park ranger works great until the end, even if the last sneaking part in the park goes on for too long. Snufkin works fine as a protagonist, so I would be happy to have a sequel in the future.

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a relaxed and slow-paced adventure, and sometimes that is what you need between shooters and action games.