We recently had the opportunity to explore the new game Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley to see what all the fuss is about.
With all of the AAA, photorealistic, 60+ hours to complete video games flying around as of late, it’s easy to forget that there are simpler ways to enjoy a game. Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is one such game and it was an absolute delight to play through.
For this review, I played the game on Nintendo Switch.
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a musical adventure that sees the player controlling the titular character, a wandering traveler who returns after one winter to find that something dreadful has happened to Moominvalley: a rules-obsessed park ranger has moved in to build parks all over the place and his best friend is missing!
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley
Developer: Hyper Games
Platform: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: March 7, 2024
This game is a wonderful change of pace for anyone who’s been grinding through action heavy games. Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is about as relaxed as video games come: there’s no health bar and no damage to keep track of. The worst thing that can happen if Snufkin gets “caught” is to start that particular section of the game over. This means the player is free to progress through the game literally at their leisure.
The puzzles are undoubtedly one of the best parts of this game. Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is described as a musical game for good reason. As Snufkin, the player slowly acquires a collection of instruments that must be used to manipulate or remove various obstacles encountered in the valley. The park puzzles are a lot of fun to complete also and once you figure out their pattern, they’re not difficult at all.
The game, like most things, isn’t perfect. For all of its simplicity, Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley doesn’t always do the best job in explaining what you need to do to move a quest forward. For instance, I had to restart one particular section three times before I finally understood what I needed to do. These are relatively minor issues though, for the most part the game is a lot of fun to play and very relaxing compared to other games.
If you’re looking for a change of pace in the games you play, I recommend picking up Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley. While clearly aimed at a younger audience, that doesn’t stop it from being a lot of fun to play and you’re going to enjoy exploring Moominvalley and discovering all of its secrets.
