Short and sweet Moomin game focusing on everyone's favorite little fella, Snufkin. The Moomins aren't really a big thing in the Americas, in fact I was telling my coworkers about this game and part of my explanation had to also include what the Moomins even are lol, but this game does a great job of keeping the spirit of what Moominvalley entails. I know about the Moomins because a daycare center I worked at in Russia was decorated to hell and back with these funny fellas, and of course we had the DVD discs to show the kids, too. In Africa, Asia, and especially Europe, the Moomins, I would argue, are as common to see in child environments as Mickey Mouse. It was nice to see them get a video game that keeps so much in spirit with the series, while also still making an entertaining game!

The storyline focuses around following Snufkin while going through different canonical stories from the Moomins, and I was very pleasantly surprised to see they didn't try and squeaky-clean any of the morals, as a big part of Snufkin's character is going against authority, especially when it's causing harm over any good. A good portion of the gameplay in Melody of Moominvalley is about directly disobeying the police and purposefully breaking their silly laws. The villain straight-up is the police force, with no dilly-dallying around it. Your gameplay is mostly figuring out ways to destroy police property. It's fucking awesome, and I'm glad they didn't kinda half-ass it. You have some pretty good back-and-forths with Snufkin and Little My, and the friendship between Snufkin and Moomin is kept as being written as coming off a bit more like a romance as it sometimes does, but do you expect anything less from the openly-queer author?

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a gorgeous and fun time. My only complaint would be that it runs a bit poorly on the Switch, even when docked, and that it's easy to beat the entire game in less than 3 hours! But overall, the game is simple, calming, and beautiful, and what words could better describe the charm of Moominvalley.

TLDR; Be gay, do crime.

3.5/5

Snufkin: Memory of Moominvalley was everything I hoped it would be. It's a short game with the coziest of vibes showing a deep love for all the characters it features. I enjoyed every second I spent in this beautiful rendition of Moominvalley. This is my dream Moomin game, it's a wonderfully light adventure game that puts most of its effort into recreating the vibes and soul of the Moomin books - and while that doesn't make it extraordinary, it does make it the perfect type of comfort game to just lose yourself in. I felt calmer whenever I played this game. (Stay away from the Switch version though, Moominvally is best enjoyed with a framerate above 15fps!)

Very biased because I just love the Moonmin franchise. This game is super cozy and charming. It’s really short though and it feels like it could’ve used one more little arc and some more park missions. Would have been cool if they added a way to get the steam achievements on switch as well.

My biggest issue is that after beating the game you can’t go back to a previous save before the point of no return which really sucks because I left some side quests unfinished. Definitely keep this in mind when you play. The devs said they will release a patch to fix this but it will only be for new save files.

Edit: it’s been patched but I have to start a new game

Onestamente Snufkin è seriamente il miglior eroe possibile e porta avanti tutto il gioco il suo atteggiamento realmente rivoluzionario che ti vuole portare a rivalorizzare la vera natura del mondo di Moomin andando a dare una lezione mai banale e molto funzionale. Un gioco indubbiamente carino, semplice, diretto. Il problema è l'eccessiva semplicità, che viene comunque bilanciata da un bellissimo lavoro dei design che ricalca lo stile dei disegni dell'opera originale. La durata breve aiuta a non rendere noioso il tutto, a prescindere da tutto questo però il gioco gode fin troppo del background e ad una più attenta visione l'enorme superficialità del gameplay viene nascosta dal brand di riferimento più che altro

A beautiful lyrical game, but unfortunately an all too simple and rudimentary one.

I enjoyed my time trotting around the valley playing instruments to the flora and fauna of an evening. It was relaxing, wholesome, and calming. If you find pleasure in such games this will be perfect for you. If you equally are familiar with the characters of this land - even better. The art style is faithful to Jansson’s work and the occasional musical interlude from Sigur Rós is always welcome to my ears. I only wish there was more of it.

The passing stealth levels are as basic as possible. There is no real challenge or alternative way of approaching the task. That is not uncommon for adventure games yet they do tend to have a steeper puzzle element to allow for it. Melody of Moominvalley has none. You are tasked with collecting the odd item here or there but it’s nothing more complex than go to point B and back to point A. I recognise the game is largely for kids however and in that sense it offers a quaint and pleasant experience for the short time it maintains, but there could have been a lot more here. For example, let us read Moominpappa’s manuscript or compose the odd tune ourselves on the harmonica? It’s not a great deal to ask.

Oddly for such a simple game there are framerate issues on the Switch even when docked. This is now so common with every new release I barely raise an eyebrow these days, alas it’s worth noting. Equally I can’t really comprehend why there are so many loading screens - it is far from an expansive map or highly detailed visual experience. Couldn’t you have masked these loading points behind something? It all feels quite unthinking.

If you enjoy the sublime atmosphere of Moomins then you will undoubtedly enjoy your time in Moominvalley, as I did. It’s only somewhat disappointing there really was so little to do. You can finish the entire adventure in 3-4 hours I would imagine.

This was a really cute, simple, and fun little game! Exactly what you would want from a Moomin game, with beautiful storybook-like visuals and charming character interactions. I was pleasantly surprised with just how many classic Moomin characters were included! The length was also really great for me (I think it took me about 6 hours to 100%), anything longer would have felt a little laborious considering the source material. The gameplay is super easy and more seeking/collecting focused, which also benefits from the short playtime because otherwise it would probably get boring and repetitive.

Anyway Snufkin really said be gay, do crimes and i love him

Everything about this game felt spot on. The aesthetic staying close to the original artworks of Tove Jansson brought a strong nostalgic feel, and the funny and clever dialogues brought you deeper into the world of Moominvalley. I loved finding, talking to and helping all the different characters. I was a kind of amazed and happily surprised how well the story played out, while weaving in the characters in a great way. Even some 'smaller characters' that I had almost forgotten about got their spotlight. I have so many favourite parts of this game. Can barely wait to replay this sometime in the future!

I’m an American so I didn’t grow up with The Moomins but I know enough about the series and I’ve been reading some of the comics so I decided to get this after playing the demo months ago.

Overall it’s a chill adventure game where you play as Snufkin as he wages battle against the cops and NIMBYs trying to gentrify Moominvalley. Puzzles are rather easy but it’s fun exploring and the stealth segments against the cops add nice variety. The art and music are wonderful, really capturing the whimsical fairy tale vibes the series has. The writing is fun with a good chunk of the game having Snufkin and Little My bouncing off each other. You can tell this is a love letter to the series so fans will definitely get a kick out of it but I think even you don’t know anything about Moomins you’ll still have a fun time, because it’s just a quality game all around.

this was the coziest, cutest game i’ve played so far in 2024 and it was so unexpected?? it wasn’t even on my radar. seriously i adored everything about it, it never gets boring, it is the perfect length, the mechanics are always fresh, discovering the environment reacting to your music was one of the most satisfying gaming moments i’ve had recently 🥹 (like the white flowers with the drum or the ferns) and the soundtrack was SOOO GOOODDD, especially when the character little my was on the screen~

i easily recommend snufkin to everyone who wants a short & adorable adventure!

Overall, this game is very short and simple, but also very calming. The artstyle is beautiful and was a joy to look at while going through the game. Moomin as a franchise is one I've primarily experienced second hand throughout my life with my siblings being the ones who grew up with the show and not me so I wasn't familiar with everything, but I still had a good time. I did encounter some bugs, but they didn't prevent me from going through the game. I loved it.

Sidenote, seeing all those Scandinavian names in the credits warmed my heart as someone from there.

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a charming and well excecuted game. When I first heard about the game I was thrilled, a norwegian game about moominvalley!? When I saw the trailer I was dragged in; the artstyle, the music, the characters and the sound effects. The feeling it all gave was exactly the feeling a game about moominvalley should have, it impressed me.

Even though I know I don't like story-based games, I had to try it. My normal anoyances with story-games were still there, the waiting, the repetition, the really obvious "puzzles" and the straightforward game design: "go here, go here, then do this, go back, talk with character, finnish quest" it never really tickled my brain worms. The game didn't allow me to think outside the box, and that's fine. It's a genre for a reason.

I really did enjoy the other parts of this game though, the animations and cutscenes are amazing, the music really hit the right vibe, the music mechanic was cute, the world looked and feelt amazing, it really came to life, lastly the norwegian translation really hit home for me. I haven't choosen to have my native language in a game in forever, and that was a breath of fresh air.