Even if you didn’t read the stories or watch any of the adaptations, it seems almost impossible to not be aware of the Moomins and their visual designs, both created by the Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson. Yet, there haven’t been that many videogame adaptations of the series and those that existed seem to have been exclusive to either Finnish or Japanese market. As such, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley might be the first videogame adaptation of Moomins to release internationally and on several modern platforms. It is a very very simple game, but also a very very charming one.
If you are somehow not aware of Moomins at all, the series are centered around a cast of different fairy tale-like creatures that are somewhat based on the North European mythology. The cast of characters is pretty large, but at the center of it all are a family of Moomintrolls who live a simple life in the Moominvalley, going on simple adventures and finding new friends. The mood and overall tone of the stories is different from what one would find in, say A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories, as more characters can be very pragmatic or sarcastic and more parallels with real world can be drawn, but the feel of the world isn’t entirely dissimilar. As such, Moomins are very much intended for the kids first and foremost, but they can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
The game nails this intended audience feel quite well. The story of Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is very simple in its criticism of meaningless “progress” and industrialisation, of bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy and every dangerous and scary situation is just part of an adventure on the way to an end, where everything will definitely work out. And the delivery of this type of story is very good, while also succeeding at introducing the world of Moomins and its many cute characters to the players.
Gameplay-wise, it also hits an interesting balance of being engaging and potentially challenging, without being obtuse or difficult for kids but also completely uninteresting for experienced players. As a whole, the world of the game is presented as a giant open map that gradually opens up in an almost metroidvania-like fashion and as you explore you will be finding characters to help (with quests dedicated to that) and some optional activities to do. Most of the time you just explore the world with a top down view and solve simple puzzles that often involve playing different instruments. But occasionally you get simple, but still interesting stealth sections, during which Snufkin engages in simple acts of eco terrorism and sabotage by removing the “do not” signs and destroying tasteless statues.
It’s all presented in a really wonderful art style with a pleasant soundtrack that is both surprising and somewhat disappointing. For one, the soundscape of the game is genuinely great and the tunes are very good on their own. And occasionally a Sigur Rós song might start playing, as they’ve co-written a couple of instrumental compositions for the soundtrack. Yet, despite the game’s relatively short length, the amount of music is surprisingly limited, so you will be listening to the same simple tunes very often and there’s just not enough variety to them. Given the tone of the music, it reminded me of the fantastic Chicory: A Colorful Tale that did a far better job at creating a similar mood through music.
In a way, that’s been my general feeling about the game. What it does it does quite well, sometimes great even. But at the same time, it never tries to go higher than just being good, like there’s no huge ambition behind the project. No fault in it, really, as what Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley does it does really well and I’m glad I’ve played through the game. But it is no more than “very nice” and “very pleasing”, which is a tiny bit of a shame.