Röki

A big sister out to save her brother. An immersive point and click adventure in a snowy world filled with magic. We loved the atmosphere in this game that will broaden your horizons and is never a cliché: the monster aren't always the evil ones! Straightforward in an enchanting game world. 100% clever and charming.

When they manage to perfectly harness emotions, immersion, and puzzles, video games can be captivating and stick in your memory. Röki, a point and click game from Polygon Treehouse, is exactly one such game. It immerses you in a world inspired by Norse fairytales, where magic and mythical creatures reign supreme. An enchanting experience.

The adventure in Röki gets off to a gentle start. You play as Tove, a big sister who's mature for her age, looking after her little brother, Lars, both orphans. Lars is a mischievous child who likes monster stories, and, to make his sister laugh, he pretends to be able to see them in the woodland and lakes that surround them.

But these monsters will soon strike out "in real life", and your quest to find Lars begins when he is kidnapped by a monster, despite Tove's efforts to protect him.

We liked the beautiful artistic direction. The polished, detailed graphics deepen the sense of immersion in this interactive fairytale. The game environments are made up of different layers that make it seem like you're inside the pages of a children's storybook. The creatures that you encounter are beautifully drawn, and their animations reflect their personality, letting the player know how to interact with each of them. The interactive elements are perfectly incorporated into the environment, and there's a button that makes them light up so you can't miss them.

The soothing soundtrack matches the Scandinavian landscape, drawing players deeper into the game world, as do the different sound effects for each location.

Our favourite part? The game's gentle pace and how easy it is to just start playing. It's easy to collect and use items, but the game does ask you to always pay attention so that you don't miss vital information. The puzzles are varied and demand that you pay attention to the smallest details in the environment.

The game's slow pace encourages players to calmly explore this magical fairytale. Röki will take around 15 hours to complete, but completionists who want to fill Tove's album can spend much longer exploring the game's vast world.

Our tip to help you on your way? While most of the puzzles make sense, some are a bit more convoluted, like needing to cause a church's bell to fall down so that you can move a wooden board, or using a spear to open a locked chest, despite having picked up plenty of keys!

And remember that some of the items you find early on won't be used until much, much later.

More than a game, this is a real fable that will stir your emotions. It touches on profound themes like forgiveness, pain, and blame, while always celebrating love and hope...
Not bad for "just" a video game!