GAME REVIEW: Snufkin - Melody of Muuminvalley (2024)
Peaceful gaming at its finest!
To say that it’s rare for me to buy a brand new game is quite an understatement. I couldn’t tell you how many games I’ve bought in their release year, but suffice to say that the only ones that come to mind are last year’s Sea of Stars (which I bought because I love the developers and it was affordable) and Salt & Sacrifice (which I got instantly because we loved Salt & Sanctuary so much), which was sadly a disappointment. However, when I saw Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley // Nuuskamuikkunen: Muumilaakson Melodia (made by Hyper Games and published by Raw Fury) advertised in my monthly Switch suggestions, I confess that I did pretty much drop what I was doing and immediately ran over to the Switch to see how much it cost. At the fairly reasonable price of about 20€, I was able to pick it up and play it through more or less right away!
Now, before I get into the game, there’s something you should know about if the series is new to you. The Moomin series, originally written by Tove Jansson, is extremely well-beloved for many reasons: the magical storytelling, the delightful characters, and the mysterious adventures. There’s a very specific atmosphere and feel to the Moomins that modern remakes have rarely, if ever, been able to re-create, and most Finns commonly say that the new stuff just doesn’t have the right feel. So it pleases me deeply to say that I got exactly what I needed from this game: wonderful artwork and music, a strange, silly, and mysterious story, and some delightfully queer friendships.
So first things first, this is a very simple adventure RPG with lovely artwork and music, which opens as Snufkin (Nuuskamuikkunen) and Moomin (Muumipeikko) say their extremely fond farewells as the Moomins settle down for their winter hibernation. Snufkin always spends winters away from the valley since his friends are all sleeping, but returns each spring. The player guides Snufkin back to the valley, where he realizes that all is not well… in fact, something is very, very wrong. There are anti-everything (smoking, looking, smelling, existing) signs in the ground, strange parks have popped up, policemen are everywhere, and the river has run dry! Shameful and awful! Snufkin immediately sets to work finding out what has become of his beloved Moominvalley.
The gameplay is extremely simple, involving world exploration, playing one of three instruments, and completion of simple quests, which play out quite naturally as you progress through the game. You get to meet all of your favorite characters: Pikku Myy, Hemuli, Nipsu, Haisuli, Muumimamma and Muumipappa, Tuu-Tikki—please excuse me for using their Finnish names, as I actually don’t know many of them in English—all of whom agree that something bad is happening and inform Nuuskamuikkunen Snufkin that Moomintroll has been missing since they awoke. Myy tells Snufkin that Moomi was kidnapped by Mörkö [The Groke], though Snufkin is suspicious, as Myy has been known to exaggerate and leap to conclusions.
The game is not particularly long, easily playable within a few hours, though I admit that I took a bit longer because, after playing in English for an hour or so, I grew tired of the names in English and decided to try my hand at playing in Finnish instead—a first for me! I was quite delighted to find out how well I understood much of it, though I did need to keep my Finnish-English dictionary on-hand because, while the characters all speak in quite proper Finnish (not using slang, for example), some of them use really old-school phrasings that, as a friend put it, you wouldn’t hear outside someone’s grandparents.
Snufkin progresses through the game by helping the people of Moominvalley with various troubles (and with varying degrees of enthusiasm), often by playing music with a harmonica, flute, or drum, and ultimately finds out that the valley is under control of some sort of constable who has a misguided plan to make the valley better by creating parks. Naturally, Snufkin is vehemently opposed to this, as he believes the valley was already perfect as it was. The morals of the game are 95% beautiful, though there are some funny moments that do raise an eyebrow here and there… for example, there are little helpers who will get you up some ledges… I know it’s game mechanics and all that they can’t leave afterwards, but it does seem a bit like he’s enslaving these little dudes. Another odd one was towards the end when [light spoilers] he has to wreck up Filifijonka’s garden (this was a game about preserving nature, right?) in order to get her to come out. Other than that, the game is completely delightful, as they try to figure out what this constable has done to the valley and why. I also thought the ending was very sweet and a nice way to wrap up the story, which allows for some redemption.
Now, don’t trust my opinion though either, because I am a foreigner who hasn’t even read all of the original Moomin books yet. That said, I had a Finnish friend come over to visit and showed her the game and she loved it! Her favorite game is Stardew Valley and she said it felt like the same sort of similar soft and sweet gaming style, but storied, and that it fully captured the magic of Moominvalley. She even passed the controller over to me, when Mörkö shows up… though in all fairness, that scene is brilliant and anxiety-inducing.
It’s also worth mentioning that I’ve never taken so many screenshots when playing a game! It was just so beautiful and occasionally there are moments where Snufkin can simply sit and enjoy the scenery… it’s wonderful.
Now, low-key but the Moomins are also known for a lot queer vibes, with, for example, Tuu-Tikki looking suspiciously exactly like Tove Jansson’s long-term partner, and Snufkin often being used as an example of excellent nonbinary representation. It’s very true that the friendship between Snufkin and Moomin is extremely queer in nature and the game really plays to this… even going so far as to include a moment where the two of them go full Frodo-and-Sam towards the end. The final scene of the game has them [light spoilers] sitting on a bridge together, just like they did at the start of the game in the world’s fall season, looking lovingly at one another, hands not quite touching. I have a suspicion that the makers were really playing up the queerness of their friendship and I think they did a really good job of it.
Another thing worth mentioning is that, if you’re not familiar with the series, this would be a really good place to start. It gives you a lot of information about all of the characters, without spoiling any of the actual original stories (as far as I know, at least, this wasn’t based off any of the Moomin tales).
On the whole, I really adored this game! It only requires a few hours to play through, the game and story are lovely, the music and atmosphere is exactly what the game needs it to be, and there’s a wide selection of language options to play in! If you like gentle, beautiful games that help you relax and reconnect to nature, this is a definite don’t-miss release!
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