Gamescom is a hectic place. It is loud, abrasive, hot, and cramped, and that's just in the quieter areas. Look in any direction, and you're blasted with music, effects, or people shouting requests to try the latest in ultraviolence. It's a lot.
So imagine my surprise on the first public day, with almost 200k attendees flooding the floor, to discover a patch of calm smack in the middle of the indie gaming booths. It isn't some isolated area, either, but a regular table with some banners and two unassuming developers with Steam Decks. Yet around them, curious attendees walk a bit slower, peer into the devices, and break into wide smiles. It's a new Moomin game!
Ola Nilsson, president of Crossbridge Game Studios, welcomes me with some anticipation. "It's always a little scary to show this to a Finn," he jokes. "We know how important the Moomins are to you."
It's not entirely untrue. After all, the Moomins are a part of the Finnish cultural identity. They're a global icon, yet uniquely ours in a way that's hard to explain. As a people, we see ourselves in these round, white hippos, who want nothing more than to be left alone to eat pancakes, drink coffee, and wonder about life itself. Everyone I know grew up with Moomin stories, and everyone has their own Moominvalley somewhere.
As I pick up the Steam Deck for my brief hands-on with Moomin: Midsummer Madness, I quickly realize how little Nilsson and his team have to worry about. From the very first moment, Midsummer Madness looks, plays, and feels like the real thing. In an instant, I'm transported to Tove Jansson's iconic world, just as it exists in my memories.
Inspired by Jansson's Moominsummer Madness, Crossbridge Game Studios has crafted a new mini-story that combines elements of the novel's most iconic scenes into a cosy point-and-click adventure for the whole family. You play as both Moomin and Little My as they navigate the flooded Moominvalley and discover a strange new building, which turns out to be a floating theater.
It is easy to pick up and play, with intuitive controls and puzzles, which Crossbridge Game Studios has spent ages getting right. "We've built a hint system to make the game accessible to younger players and newcomers," Nilsson explains. "It was important that, even though both characters have unique mechanics, people don't feel overwhelmed by it."
Similarly, Midsummer Madness isn't a long game. A full playthrough takes anywhere between four and six hours, depending on your experience. But speedruns aren't the intended focus. "We want players to relax and enjoy Jansson's world," Nilsson says, as I laze about with Little My, not a care in the world.
This is also the logic behind the point-and-click gameplay, which is not just user-friendly, but a nostalgic part of the developers' youth. "A lot of us grew up with classic LucasArts titles, so it felt like a natural fit."
The puzzles are a mix of mazes, object combinations, pattern recognition, and silly mini-games that capture the anarchic humor of Jansson's original prose. There are no fail states, no timers, and no rush. True to the Moomin spirit, you do the best you can.
In the game, curiosity is forward momentum, and each click rewards players with another opportunity to explore the exquisitely detailed world. Midsummer Madness is a delight in this regard: it feels like an interactive storybook for the digital era. Like the two previous Moomin titles, it captures Jansson's magical world in its own way, yet feels like part of the greater whole effortlessly.
"Everything is animated with great love and care," Nilsson stresses. "We worked hard with the Moomin company to get things just right, including how many fingers each character has!"
In an age of AI slop flooding the markets, Midsummer Madness feels like a warm hug. This is a Moominvalley I want to spend time in, just as I did in my youth. Even in the loud confines of Gamescom, I'm moved by its simple beauty: Moomin's rolly-polly run next to Little My's spirited energy, Snufkin's detached cool, or how the warm summer days feel as melancholy as Jansson described them half a century ago.
When it's over, and I have to return to my Gamescom sprawl, I feel the same sadness as when I put down any of Jansson's books. Any time spent in Moominvalley is too short, and Moomin: Midsummer Madness captures that magic beautifully.
Moomin: Midsummer Madness arrives on PC and the Nintendo Switch 1 and 2 this November, in both digital and physical formats. Look for a review closer to release.
