Röki

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Rebecca)

Really loved this easy-going, compelling indie adventure game. It was nominated for several awards recently (though it didn't win) and I can see why. You play as Tove, whose little brother has been kidnapped by a mysterious monster and taken to another dimension, and you have to complete a series of quests and crack puzzles in order to convince the jötnar (gods??) to help you get him back and save the forest from a mysterious sickness.

It's story-rich without being more cinema than gameplay, it genuinely made me cry, and I found the Scandinavian mythology so captivating. The puzzles were never extremely hard, but I did need hints once or twice 😬 And I enjoyed all the little fetch quests. It's very low stakes, as there's zero combat or ways to die or do things wrong or too slow, but I really liked that. It was relaxing but still engaging, and I really loved the story. Plus the wintry atmosphere felt very fitting. The only things I didn't like were the few puzzles where I felt the answer wasn't intuitive (ie "I never would have guessed that without looking it up!") and how loooong it sometimes took to get somewhere just for a 2-second task. Otherwise, a perfect game for me specifically.