New experiences with Moomin coming April 27th
Moomintroll looking up at the beautiful Aurora Borealis. / Credit Hyper Games
Norway’s games industry isn’t as big as Sweden’s, but we still have some genuinely exciting studios. Hyper Games is one of them.
This team of 13 people, and one good doggo, has released some very impressive games over the years.
Mørkredd (released December 2020), a tense co-op puzzle game about ferrying a glowing orb through pitch-black darkness. It won Nordic Game of the Year in 2021. Not bad!
And then the release of Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley in 2024, placed Hyper Games firmly on the map internationally. It also won ‘Best Fun for Everyone’ at the Nordic Game Awards 2025.
Snufkin currently sits at Overwhelmingly Positive overall, and 100% Very positive in recent reviews on Steam (data from February 24th, 2026). Those are impressive numbers, and Hyper Games has earned them with a fun game rooted in Tove Jansson’s Moomin universe that managed to feel faithful to the source material.
Now, Hyper Games are on the cusp of releasing their next game in the Moomin universe: Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth launches April 27th.
Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth Date announcement trailer on YouTube / Credit Hyper Games
Who is Moomin?
Here in Scandinavia, the Finnish Moomins, and Moomintroll in particular, are well known. We grow up with these stories and we see its characters on everything from books to cups.
I remember these stories from when I was a kid in the 90s, and my kids still get to experience Moomin today. We actually have a Moomin book with the Winter’s Warmth story in it.
Winter’s Warmth, a spiritual successor to Snufkin
Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth is described as a spiritual successor to Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley rather than a direct sequel. Both games stand on their own, and you can play them in any order.
This time around you play as Moomintroll himself, the main character of the Moomin universe, rather than the strange and wandering Snufkin.
The story is inspired by Tove Jansson’s novel Moominland Midwinter, where Moomintroll wakes early from hibernation and finds Moominvalley unrecognizable, cloaked in strange, cold and white stuff (snow) and everything is strangely quiet.
He sets out on a journey to understand winter, make new friends, and help those worse off than himself.
It’s a story-driven cozy puzzle adventure. Third-person, top-down, with the same hand-painterly visual art style that made Snufkin’s art so striking.
The team at Hyper Games has clearly put a lot of care into capturing the atmosphere of Jansson’s world, and by the looks of it, that holds up in Winter’s Warmth too.
Tove Jansson, the artist behind Moomin
Tove Jansson, for those who don’t know, is both the author and illustrator behind Moomin.
Her visual universe is something Hyper Games has managed to stay remarkably true to, even in a modern medium like a game. And that doesn’t happen by accident.
The official rights to the Moomin characters are held by Moomin Characters Oy Ltd, a company known for carefully managing the Moomin legacy.
The fact that they’ve trusted Hyper Games not once, but twice, says a lot about how this Oslo studio has handled that responsibility.
The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My, 1952 / Credit Tove Jansson (tovejansson.com)
Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth demo out now
The new demo runs about 60 minutes and includes never-before-seen gameplay from early in the story. The full game is estimated to last around 7 hours.
This studio has been on my radar for a while. Both Moomin games are experiences I would really like to share with my own kids in a few years. If Hyper Games manages to replicate Snufkin’s success with Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth, this is gonna do them good.
The Winter’s Warmth demo is available on Steam right now during Steam Next Fest, running until March 2nd.
Worth 60 minutes of your time if you have any interest in cozy, well-crafted adventures. Or if you just want to see what a Norwegian indie studio can do with one of Scandinavia’s most beloved fictional universes.
Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth is a single player game, launching April 27th for PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.
If you want a taste before then, the demo is waiting for you on Steam.
