The new Moomin game Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley was developed by Raw Fury, and they have marketed it as a “cosy” adventure game. However, they don’t always strike a balance between that coziness and the menacing undertones that give the stories their depth.
Moomintroll departs from his sleeping family in Moominland Midwinter (1957) and sets off to explore the snowy valley he is only familiar with during the summer. The plot is fairly similar in that it moves from a safe beginning position into an investigation of a new area, interspersed with meetings with new people and events.
Jansson’s novel character Snufkin, a fisherman with a philosophical bent, sets out to bring his dry valley back to its former splendor. A common theme in many Moomin novels is an episodic quest that must be completed within mappable territory. In contrast, a beautiful map of the game’s environment is one of the goods in the inventory. It accurately utilizes Moomin Valley mapping created by Jansson himself.
However, Moominland Midwinter is not just a wintertime escapade. It is a tale of coming-of-age, a commentary on the dangers of wallowing in the past or in oneself, and an investigation of longing, fear, and tolerance.
Even though these are children’s tales, Jansson examined the peculiarities and weaknesses of humanity in them. She also shared stories of her own. For instance, Comet in Moominland (1946) is referred to as “a book written in the shadow of war,” and Too-ticky—the Moomin interpretation of Jansson’s life partner, Tuulikki Pietilä—serves as a representation of Jansson’s relationships.
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley’s trailer.
Snufkin’s performance: Moominvalley’s melody
As I started the first game and navigated Snufkin’s yearly return to the valley—which was startlingly dry and desolate—I felt skeptical.
The gameplay also caused me to become quite frustrated because there were too many dead ends to explore, too many boulders to gather and drop to allow streams to pass, and too many nameless “creeps” who needed to be attracted by music and piled on top of one another to climb cliffs.
However, as I started my search for Moomintroll, I discovered a lot of fun things to do. I enjoyed the small joy of recognizing well-known personalities. The way the game’s dried-up riverbed reflected the alterations in the natural world—such as snow, volcanoes, and floods—that inspired the stories in the Moominvalley books was a pleasing visual.
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley makes an effort to relate to Jansson’s works by emphasizing the surroundings. This is reflected in the game’s story and design, and it speaks to Jansson’s personal concerns about striking a balance between the natural world and its humans.
It is billed as a “adventure game about restoring harmony with nature” in the trailer. Defeating the park keeper’s attempts to transform Moominvalley’s wild natural beauty into parks with designated trails, areas, and signs prohibiting enjoyment is necessary to advance.
The scene in which Snufkin saves the Little Woodies, a group of lost children, from the park where the caretaker had “cut and sheared every single one of the trees
Snufkin, on the other hand, gets his “inspiration” from rustling through bushes and plants that grow freely in the game. Like in Jansson’s stories, power comes from an unadulterated and uncontrolled natural environment.
Snufkin: Moominvalley’s artwork’s melody
The artwork in the game was, in my opinion, the most remarkable component. It stays true to the colors used in Jansson’s paintings and her now-famous line drawings.
It may be argued that Moomin artwork has devolved into a lovely commodity that is unrelated to the complexity of Jansson’s stories—I myself have a sizable collection of Moomin merchandise.
But in the books, the illustrations tell the story just as much as the words do, preserving Jansson’s voice despite the difficulties of translation. It is not necessary to recreate the black ink strokes in any other language. Her minute facial expressions, such as a wrinkled brow and a downcast eye, are deftly employed in the game’s character development.
Snufkin: Moominvalley’s artwork’s melody
The artwork in the game was, in my opinion, the most remarkable component. It stays true to the colors used in Jansson’s paintings and her now-famous line drawings.
It may be argued that Moomin artwork has devolved into a lovely commodity that is unrelated to the complexity of Jansson’s stories—I myself have a sizable collection of Moomin merchandise.
But in the books, the illustrations tell the story just as much as the words do, preserving Jansson’s voice despite the difficulties of translation. It is not necessary to recreate the black ink strokes in any other language. Her minute facial expressions, such as a wrinkled brow and a downcast eye, are deftly employed in the game’s character development.