Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a Stealth/Adventure Game created by Hyper Games, inspired by Tove Jansson's famous series of novels, The Moomins; in particular, it's a loose adaptation of Moominsummer Madness with a few elements from Tales from Moominvalley. Music by Sigur Rós is featured in the soundtrack. It was released on March 7, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch and Steam.
As with every year, Snufkin must say goodbye to his best friend Moomintroll to leave on his adventure while the Moomins hibernate for winter. Also like with every year, Snufkin returns in the spring, looking forward to seeing Moomintroll again at their usual meeting spot on the bridge. But this year, things are different. Moominvalley has dried up, Moomintroll has vanished, and the land has become overrun with hideous parks... parks with rules, which free-spirited Snufkin can't stand! Snufkin decides to tear down the parks and bring nature back to Moominvalley while investigating what happened to Moomintroll.
As Snufkin wanders around Moominvalley, he kindly helps out the area's residents while looking for inspiration for his music. But when he stumbles upon a park, his chaotic side shows as he sneaks past the security guards or distracts them through various means, all while tearing down the signs enforcing the park rules.
This game provides examples of:
- Adaptation Amalgamation: The plot is mostly based on Moominsummer Madness (Snufkin destroying signs in the parks, Moomintroll in prison, Moominpappa putting on a play), but a few elements, like Teety-Woo and certain sidequests, are taken from the Tales from Moominvalley anthology.
- Advancing Boss of Doom: When Snufkin first encounters the Groke, she chases him through the forest and swamp. She'll freeze you if she catches you, and there are muddy puddles that slow you down and stop you from running, so you have to run through the clear sections as fast as you can to give yourself time to get away.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Snufkin hurts his leg right before the final level, so you instead play through that level as Moomintroll as he carries Snufkin on his back.
- Bee Afraid: While stepping through flower patches can get you more Inspiration, it may also sometimes disturb a swarm of bees who will attack Snufkin. When that happens, you'll have to use the flute to calm them down. Toffle also suffers from this, being trapped in a tree by some angry bees and needing Snufkin to play his flute so he can get down.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Snufkin goes out of his way to help the people and creatures he encounters, but he is nowhere near as nice when it comes to those protecting the parks: he destroys the signs, orders birds to attack the security guards, and tears down the whole park once everyone leaves.
- Big Bad: The Park Keeper is the main antagonist, as he's the one who built the parks ruining Moominvalley. He also imprisons Moomintroll and steals the pirate treasure Little My was after.
- Community-Threatening Construction: The Park Keeper claims that building parks is necessary to create "the valley of the future!" Snufkin vehemently disagrees, as this construction is scaring away Moominvalley's wildlife and ruining the freedom of nature.
- A Day in the Limelight: Snufkin is important, but ultimately tends to be a secondary character throughout the franchise. In this game, he's been promoted to the role of main playable character.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: If you get caught by a guard, or by the Groke when she's chasing you, the game just rewinds a bit and lets you immediately keep going.
- Distressed Dude: Moomintroll tried to negotiate with the Park Keeper, but ended up getting arrested. The game's second half revolves around trying to break him out of prison.
- Experience Points: In this game, experience is called Inspiration. You gain it by interacting with natural items (running through bushes, digging through piles of sand), destroying the Park Keeper's property, and completing sidequests. When you reach a certain threshold, Snufkin levels up, improving his music so it'll affect a wider variety of creatures.
- Fear of Thunder: During the final section, the police officers, for once, stand in positions that lead to their field of vision covering the entire area with no way to sneak around them. However, they're also all afraid of thunder, and it just so happens that a very convenient storm came along at the start of this level. Whenever thunder cracks, the guards all get so scared that they basically go blind for a few seconds, giving you time to run past them.
- Feathered Fiend: This can be exploited by Snufkin: though the birds are normally harmless, Snufkin can use his harmonica to direct them to attack police officers, distracting them so he can sneak by.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: Before going to the Hattifatteners' Island, Too-ticky gives you her old map. This map shows the island's park on it, even though the Park Keeper has only recently started his work around Moominvalley; Snufkin's reaction to this park indicates that it's his first time seeing it as well, and he's been to the island before.
- Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: Ninny had her clothes stolen by Stinky while she was swimming. Stinky reasons that she doesn't need them since she's invisible, but Ninny isn't a big fan of being an Invisible Streaker.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Police Are Useless in many ways, especially in how they guard the parks. They'll chase after Snufkin if they see him in the parks, but have a very small line of sight and very little object permanence, as they'll forget about him and go back to their posts if you get out of their sight for a few seconds. They also won't notice that an object is being pushed in front of them to block their vision, and can't hear Snufkin playing his music next to them (but will get distracted by any other sound, including the sound of his drum being carried through a pipe).
- Heel–Face Turn: In the end, Moominpappa's play moves the Park Keeper so much that he recognizes how his parks were harming Moominvalley. Moomintroll offers to let him become the keeper of the theater instead of the parks.
- Invisible Streaker: When you first find Ninny, the Invisible Child, she's upset that Stinky stole her clothes while she was swimming. Stinky says that because Ninny is invisible, she doesn't need clothes, but she still prefers to be dressed because she gets cold otherwise.
- Little Stowaway: When Snufkin heads to the Hattifattener's Island on the raft Too-Ticky made, Little My hides in his bag to accompany him because she thinks he's looking for treasure. Snufkin is then unable to take her back home because a storm destroys the raft, stranding them on the island.
- Music Soothes the Savage Beast: Snufkin can use his instruments to tame wild animals, including bees, crocodiles, and snakes.
- Never Trust a Trailer: There are a few differences between the trailer and actual game. Putting aside a few minor ones, some are quite major:
- Both trailers shows Snufkin burning the park signs in a bonfire. In the final release, the signs simply vanish when you pull them out.
- May 2022 trailer
:- Sniff is stuck in the middle of a pond. In the final release, you find him on the beach near a cave.
- Stinky has captured a bird. In the final release, Stinky instead steals Ninny's clothes.
- June 2022 trailer:
- Snufkin's harmonica initiates a mini-Rhythm Game. In the final release, you play his instruments simply by holding down a button.
- Moomintroll shows Snufkin the way to the Park Keeper's house. In the final release, Snufkin finds his way there on his own, and Moomintroll is actually imprisoned next to the Park Keeper's house.
- Snufkin is shown pickpocketing a key from a guard, as well as spilling one guard's coffee for unknown reasons. Neither of these are gameplay elements in the final release.
- No-Gear Level: While jumping the fence to enter the final park, on the way to the dam, Snufkin injures his leg, requiring him to be carried by Moomintroll. As a result, none of Snufkin's abilities are available for that segment.
- Police Are Useless: The police officers wandering the park can barely remember what their job is: all they know is that they have to uphold the rules, and that the rules are on the signs. Therefore, if Snufkin destroys every sign in the park, the cops will forget what they're even doing and leave the area, letting Snufkin tear down the rest of the park.
- Prisons Are Gymnasiums: Referenced during the final level. After freeing Moomintroll from the Park Keeper's prison cell, Snufkin hurts his leg, so Moomintroll has to carry him through the last stretch. Snufkin asks him if he's been exercising in prison, even though the cell is just an empty metal cage.
- Shout-Out: One of the things the Pirate on the Island of the Hattifatners might say to himself is "I got this scar on my face during a mighty struggle!" Sadly, there's no option to have Snufkin respond "I hope you've learned by now to stop picking your nose."
- Sprint Meter: Snufkin has a stamina meter which drains as he runs and refills over time. His maximum stamina can be increased by helping the Muskrat find ingredients for his stew.
- Tempting Fate: When Snufkin finds the police burning debris to clear the way for a park's construction, he warns them that it's dangerous to light a fire in such a dry area. They reassure him that everything is under control, which is immediately followed by the fire going out of control, starting a big forest fire that the Groke has to help put out.
- Title Drop: Moominpappa's play turns out to be called "Melody of Moominvalley".
