Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley review – Embark on a Whimsical Adventure of Melodies and Moomins!

Tove Jansson’s Moomins have always seemed to be around. Even if you’ve never watched the show growing up like me, they occupy your local trinket shops alongside pungent candles and beaded bracelets as mugs, keyrings, or plushies. You can’t help but think, ‘That’s so cute!’ when you see them, and to this day, I have never consumed any kind of Moomin media. However, contrary to this, I have a Moomin hot water bottle, tea set, and cookie jar. In the vein of Snoopy and Pusheen, they can work purely as aesthetics, whimsical creatures that communicate cozy. Therefore, when I saw that they were making a musical adventure game, I thought this would be the prime time to actually find out what Moominvalley is all about, and boy, is it as magical as I hoped it would be.

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is the melodious adventure of Snufkin, who, upon returning to the valley when the flowers bloom, finds that park keepers are disturbing the peace by erecting signs and gated gardens. They act as an antithesis to the natural order of the valley with their insistence on rules. Alongside this is the focal tension of the story: the disappearance of Snufkin’s best friend, Moomintroll, which leads Snufkin and friends on a journey to restore the valley. This will carry the player through a substantially sized world, leading you to the beach, forests, and even a jungle island, showcasing variety in such a contained game. Never do you feel lost, but guided by the musical mechanics of the game, as many of the challenges the player faces can be swayed by a harmonica, drum, or flute. Grumpy animals will let you pass, or rocks will fall to bridge a river; it’s integrated seamlessly to guide the player through the narrative.

While half the game is exploration, the other can be defined by the mini garden puzzles, where the player must stealth through bushes and flowers to destroy all the signs; as a result, the garden is destroyed for nature to reclaim. These are extremely simple and don’t require much thought to get through; distractions can be made to alert park keepers, and most of the time you can glide straight past them. Also, a tiny nitpick, but the animation after you’ve completed each one does get a bit old, and despite an itty-bitty scale in difficulty, they do become quite repetitive.

However, what really makes Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley shine is its world and a delightful cast of characters. I was astounded by how charming Snufkin is as a main character, despite being from a children’s book. As a philosopher, he’s collected, thoughtful, and quite sarcastic a lot of the time. His dialogue with Little My made me giggle a few times as he displayed an obvious fed-upness with her antics, often scolding her and calling out her silliness. There are a range of other fun characters, such as the aforementioned Little My, who always causes mischief, and helicopter parent Mrs. Fillyjonk, who wasn’t very happy when I wound up her kids, whoops. A lot of the characters also boast their own side quests; some are compulsory, but others are just fun little add-ins like finding the lost pages of Moominpapa’s novel. The little titbits of activities to do never leave the player feeling bored, and they populate the world enough to not leave any room for emptiness.

These are all portrayed in Tove Jansson’s whimsical watercolor art style, with beautiful blends of greens and browns in nature and a pop of color in the buildings. Paired with this are short and sweet animations that add to the narrative element of the game and the photo opportunities of the scenery around you. Snufkin lying down, surrounded by fields and a blue sky, makes you exhale in relief as you coast through this game, along with its delectable sound design and soothing, airy soundtrack. These features really are the soul of the game, as you can’t help but stop and smell the virtual flowers. It really feels like a love letter to the world Jansson has created.

However, despite its wonderful cast and vibrant world, the game is simplistic in every aspect, with an incredibly short playtime to pair with it. Even though I completed every optional quest and stood around snapping screenshots on my Nintendo Switch, the game only takes around 3–4 hours to complete. Additionally, every puzzle is quick to solve, and each task given is either a fetch quest or easily swiped aside by playing your instrument. Understandably, this can be unsubstantial for some players, and I would personally die for a game like this, but grander in scale and with about 10 hours of gameplay. However, with these details in mind, I really do think this game excels because of its simplicity. The game is all about forgoing structure for freedom, which pairs wonderfully with the refreshing and chill vibe of the game.

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