Moomin: Midsummer Madness is a point-and-click adventure based on Tove Jansson’s fifth Moomin book, Moominsummer Madness, published in 1954. Both the book and the game revolve around a floating theatre that the Moomin family manages to bring to life despite (or perhaps thanks to) a devastating flood. Your mission is to pull everyone together, create something wonderful despite seemingly hopeless circumstances, and eventually find your way back to Moominvalley.

As you would expect from a classic point-and-click title, the gameplay revolves around exploring locations, collecting and combining items, and solving puzzles. One particularly nice touch is that you get to control not one, but two characters: Moomintroll and Little My. This feature has an impact on gameplay. You primarily control Moomintroll, but whenever he can’t get the job done, he calls on the fearless Little My. Some tasks require switching between the two characters, particularly those that demand a little extra agility or cunning.

“We don’t need no education… All in all your’s just another plunger on the wall!”

Alongside the main objectives that drive the story forward, the developers at Crossbridge Game Studios have included a handful of entertaining minigames. This was a genuinely great idea, adding variety to the gameplay and giving you a break from the main storyline. Most of the puzzles prove logical and reasonably straightforward, so they rarely pose much of a challenge.

And it seems that the devs made a conscious effort to avoid frustrating players. Getting stuck on a puzzle has been one of the hallmarks of the point-and-click genre for decades, but Moomin: Midsummer Madness comes equipped with a hint system to help you out whenever you hit a wall.

What matters most, is optimism.

If you forget what to do, Moomintroll and Little My keep track of their objectives in a notebook. You can also briefly highlight interactive elements in the environment, which saves you from desperately clicking on everything when you get stuck. However, the highlighting feature comes with a cooldown. You have to wait a few seconds for the magnifying glass to recharge before using it again.

Personally, I could have done without this restriction, as it disrupts the flow of the game. On the other hand, it does encourage you to pay closer attention to your surroundings rather than relying too heavily on the hint system. And unfortunately, the title feels a bit too short overall. You’ll finish it in five hours at most, whether you use the hint system or not.

Again, the power of optimism…

As for the controls, perhaps I’m nitpicking, but I found it irritating that a single click makes your characters run, while double-clicking makes them walk. This is the opposite of what I’ve experienced in hundreds of other point-and-click adventures. I had a surprisingly hard time getting used to it. Unfortunately, there’s no way to change the controls. The options menu only allows you to disable running altogether, which, in my opinion, is a pointless alternative.

Beyond exploration and puzzle-solving, you also interact with familiar characters from the Moomin stories. They all feel remarkably true to Tove Jansson’s original creations. The game makes room for virtually every major character who has befriended the Moomin family over the years. You get to meet Snufkin, Mymble, and even the rather snooty Fillyjonk. And yes, the Hattifatteners are here too – that’s some underground, avant-garde stuff!

… and again.

I absolutely adore Little My’s sarcastic, sharp-tongued remarks. They’re often wickedly mean, but usually spot-on, and they make up an integral part of the game’s charm. All the same, Moomin: Midsummer Madness doesn’t feature voice acting. All conversations appear in speech bubbles, but I honestly didn’t find this bothersome at all. The developers more than make up for it with wonderful music and exceptionally pleasant ambient sounds.

The game’s visual presentation is a true masterpiece. The world and its inhabitants look phenomenal, and Tove Jansson’s distinctive artistic spirit shines through every aspect of the design. The locations are bursting with colour and little details. I think the artist herself would have been proud to see what the devs have created.

One moment above water…

But don’t let the cartoonish aesthetic fool you. Beneath the story’s seemingly carefree, fairytale exterior lies some surprisingly serious and, at times, downright depressing subject matter. There’s an undercurrent of apocalyptic anxiety running throughout the game; a sense of impending doom lurks just beneath the surface. Some players might find this unsettling, especially if they’re expecting a light-hearted, heartwarming adventure. But that’s not what the Moomins represent.

These narratives emerged during and shortly after the Second World War, at a time when the world was struggling to recover from unimaginable trauma and devastation. That’s why I believe the Moomin stories deserve to be read as literature for adults just as much as for children. They feel melancholic, sometimes deeply sad, but ultimately brim with hope.

… and the next underwater.

They remind us that even when political decisions and the cruelty of those in power make life incredibly difficult, we are stronger together and can overcome even the greatest adversity. They also show us that something beautiful can emerge from even the most painful experiences: something lasting that we can take pride in as a community. That’s what the Moomins achieve when they build their theatre; and it’s also what people do when they rebuild their culture in the aftermath of a destructive war.

Moomin: Midsummer Madness comes remarkably close to perfection. Its story and visual presentation are equally breathtaking, blending melancholic beauty with a wonderful sense of grandeur. I dare say that Tove Jansson herself would have been delighted with this adaptation. The soundtrack and overall sound design are every bit as impressive.

Unfortunately, the title is a bit too short. My other complaints concern the counterintuitive controls and the unnecessary cooldown on the hint system. Both issues seem relatively minor, but removing them would make the gameplay noticeably smoother. That doesn’t change the fact that this is one of the most beautiful and utterly charming indie games of 2026. Highly recommended!

Moomin: Midsummer Madness is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.

Reviewed on PC.

A copy of Moomin: Midsummer Madness was provided by the publisher.