Even as a massive Tove Jansson fan and seasoned cozy gamer, I'm not exactly the typical audience for Moomintroll: Winter's Warmth, thanks to one small quirk of mine: I hate winter. For over a decade I've been mocked by the snippy virtual breezes and crunchy cartoony snow in cozy games, and the idea of playing a title purely set in a chilly landscape sends a shiver down my spine in more ways than one. However, Moomintroll: Winter's Warmth has done the impossible. It made me enjoy and look differently at the cursed season.
Winter is a staple in most modern cozy titles, especially those with year-long cycles as part of their gameplay loop. However, playing the best farming games like Stardew Valley for 10 plus years, I've found every title's take on winter is annoyingly limited and disruptive. In Stardew Valley, farming is essentially pointless, and in the likes of Animal Crossing New Horizons, the snow makes decorating annoying as your island looks vastly different when green. While Moomintroll: Winter's Warmth is a cozy narrative game and not a life sim, it's one I'd still generally avoid thanks to my hatred of its titular season. But I love Moomin, and as I began playing it, I was soon hooked with a story that I could oddly relate to. One featuring a fellow winter hater on an internal journey of emotional growth.
