Here they are for one and all, the Moomins are about to roll. Come and play this game you see, they’re here for you an me. They are the Moomins! They are the Moomins!
In case you recognize the above, you may have grown up watching the Moomins cartoon during the 1990s, because these lyrics are a slight adaptation of the lyrics of the opening song of each episode of this series inspired by Tove Jansson’s Finnish children’s books about trolls who look like white hippos and their unique collection of friends and acquaintances. The Moomins are still intensely popular and now a roll-and-write family game is available. They are the Moomins!
Background
The Moomins are very international. I grew up with the cartoon series from the 1990s which, by the way, was a Finnish-Japanese-Dutch co-production. The stories are based and inspired by the characters and books conceived, illustrated and written by Tove Jansson a Finnish writer who was part of a Swedish-speaking minority group in Finland. To (half)complete the circle, the game Stegegets x Moomin was conceived by the Swedish game author Jon Manker and published by Swedish publisher ION Game Design.
In total, Tove Jansson wrote 9 books about the trolls starring Moomintrol, Moominpapa, Moominmama, Little My, Sniff, Snufkin, Snorkmaiden and my absolute favorite Stinky. The stories are characterized by the unique characters, personal themes, abstract and imaginative thinking and greatest adventures and urge to explore. In addition to the books, they also published picture books, multiple cartoon series, toys and popular mugs. I used to love the cartoon series from the early 1990s and started reading the books after I was in my thirties and while reading these books I imagine myself as a child again going on imaginative exploration for the first time. Naturally, after the announcement of Stegegets x Moomins, I was immediately curious about the game.
Why the name Stegegets? This palindrome is the title of another roll-and-write by Jon Manker in which players explore space. This Moomin game is an adaptation of Stegegets, but instead of space, players are going to explore the Moomin Valley. Players will roll dice to visit different characters in the valley. By visiting characters, players earn strawberries and gifts including various jams. The player with the most gifts wins.
Setup and gameplay
In the center of the table, players place the large shared score sheet. Unlike many other roll-and-writes, players do not have their own sheet, but must share the sheet with other players, which adds an interesting twist to this genre.
Each player is given a pencil and chooses one of the available characters. Each character has a unique trait which makes the game slightly asymmetrical. After each game, players can unlock new characters based on the characters they have visited. There are a lot of characters to unlock, which encourages you to play more often.
Taking turns, players roll the available dice. By using strawberries, they may roll dice again to affect the outcome. You may also earn additional dice during the game.
Each character in the Moomin Valley has a specific dice requirement. You must roll a specific result (specific values, consecutive values or combinations of values) to visit a character. When you visit a character you get the specified amount of strawberries. Is the player’s first visit to a character, they get to color the character’s background and get a gift. If the character has already been visited once, then the player gets an extra die to bet on the next turn.
Verdict
Stegegets x Moomin is quite appropriately a real family game. The game is clearly understandable for children and also enjoyable for adults. Especially adults who are fans of Moomins, of course. The game may not be complex enough for diehard players, but it is tremendously suitable for fans of simple roll-and-writes.
The sheets are large and contain the beautiful illustrations of the Moomins. The sheets may be in black and white, but players will quickly apply color by playing.
By the way, the game contains an immense stack of these sheets of paper, and the back covers also all contain different Moomin illustrations which also makes the game lend itself as an immense coloring book.
