Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth review – Another fantastic visit to the Moomins universe

If you played Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, there’s a good chance you’ll be very interested in Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth. It’s Hyper Games’ second visit to the Moomin universe, and it’s every bit as lovely and charming as the first. This time, however, Snufkin takes a back seat: you’re now in control of Moomintroll, the young Moomin who wakes up a little too early from his winter hibernation.

With Moominmamma and Moominpappa still fast asleep, Moomintroll has to fend for himself and, upon discovering the house in disarray, with all the windows open, he’s forced outside to find the culprit. A squirrel, it turns out. But that’s the least of Moomintroll’s problems: as he wanders around a cold, alien Moominvalley, he discovers lots of his friends are awake too – and they all need his help in some way or another.

Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth feels similar to Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley in tone and nature. Both games are cosy, combat-free (excepting the odd snowball fight in this case) and have you exploring, using a variety of tools and solving simple environmental puzzles. But while Snufkin was a very short affair, taking roughly three or four hours to complete in its entirety, Winter’s Warmth roughly twice as long. Thanks to a heartwarming story and a variety of activities, it never outstays its welcome, either.

You’ll gain new tools piecemeal, allowing you to perform new tasks and gain access to new areas. You’ll first get a set of matches, which allow you to see in the dark and light lanterns. Next comes a pair of gloves, with which you can form snowballs and toss them at various targets – useful for knocking down icicles or getting objects out of trees. You’ll also gain a shovel, which can be used to shift large piles of snow, and an axe, to chop wood.

Your overall goal is to prepare a large winter bonfire, which means gathering a lot of wood, finding people to attend, and sourcing a musician. But a lot of these objectives will be achieved through completing sub-quests. In other words, you’re never left to your own devices: you’ll always be going from one mission to another as you help the various residents of Moominvalley.

You might need to rescue someone’s missing lunchbox for example, or find some make-up and fancy clothing to make the aptly-named Misabel feel a bit better about herself. Completing one story mission will, more often than not, lead you straight to the next. But you’re free to wander around to your heart’s content, with plenty of optional missions to complete, too. You’re only limited by your lack of tools to begin with: you’ll initially find roadblocks, like logs you can’t get past, until you’ve found the right tools.

It’s a gorgeous world to explore, though, even when your speed is hampered by needing to wade through snow. It’s a fairly big map, with lakes, mountains, caves and forests all waiting for you to visit. With everything covered in snow, there’s not a huge amount of variety, but the artists have done a great job of varying environments with different landmarks and unique ways of traversing (i.e. balance beams and ropes up in the mountains). The only problem is it can become tiresome needing to trek backwards and forwards so frequently, but it’s a small complaint in the grand scheme of things.

Like with Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley that came before it, you don’t need to know much about Tove Jansson’s Moomin universe to enjoy Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth. Sure, you’ll undoubtedly get extra joy out of the game if you’re already familiar with its characters and its world, but it’s totally unnecessary. You can approach this without knowing anything about Moomins – and I almost guarantee you’ll leave wanting to soak up as much Moomins knowledge as possible. There’s a lot to go at, given Moomins have been around since 1945.

It might be set in the depth of winter, and you might often be wading through inches of snow, but Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth will surely warm your heart. It’s a touching, heart-felt adventure with themes of self-doubt, anxiety, insecurity and more all dealt with through the conversations you have and the characters you meet. Above all, like Snufkin before it, it’s a game that champions the power of family and friendship, giving power to the people around us. When everything feels a bit, well, rubbish, it’s the type of game that can really lift your spirits.