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Review: Marvins Mittens

At a Glance

ESRB Rating: NR - Not Rated
My Rating: Everyone
Genre: Platformer
License: Commercial
Fun-O-Meter:
Release Year: 2014
Review Published On: September 27th, 2017
Played on: Thaddeus

Available on:

Windows

Available from:

Steam

Soundtrack: Available as DLC
Areas of Concern:
  • Fantasy magic


How to Save and Pause:

Your progress is recorded at the end of each day. If you dont want to wait for Marvins mother to call him to bed, you can skip to his bedtime by finding the elf that offers you hot chocolate and asking them to send you home.

If you just want to pause the game, press ESC to bring up the pause menu.

Time needed per session:

Since Marvin will be called home when bedtime rolls around, youll only be able to make progress in short bursts. Each day lasts about 11 minutes, so use this as a guideline for planning your time.

Does this game pose issues for Christian players?

No - this is a great game for Christians
This is probably the sweetest game Ive ever played, and the only thing that could even remotely be a concern to strict Christians is that there is a group of tiny elves living in Marvins backyard.

Screenshots

[view screenshot]
Using a bridges scaffolding as monkey bars

[view screenshot]
A sketch of a chickadee

[view screenshot]
Its 11 PM. Do you know where your children are?



Game Overview

Just about everyone played in the snow as a kid, and according to the developers, this game was created to try and bring that magical feeling back. That said, I think a better description of Marvins Mittens is that its like an illustrated story from a childrens magazine. If youve ever read stories from publications like Highlights for Children, Cricket, or perhaps even Ranger Rick, then you have a pretty good idea about what youre going to see here.

The story itself is little more than a basic framework. Marvin was quietly building a snowman when something dashed out of the trees, took a mitten off his hand, and ran away into the woods with its prize. Now, he doesnt get into trouble over coming home without both mittens or anything dramatic like that, but you cant just steal a little boys mitten and expect him to do nothing about it. This sets him off on a journey that goes over and under lakes and mountains as he tracks down the Mitten Thief. Along the way hell encounter a group of elves that have also lost their mittens to the Mitten Thief, and they join with Marvin on his crusade.

Together, the elves enchant Marvins remaining mitten, allowing him to briefly fly while wearing it. By gathering magical snowflakes scattered around the winter scenery, hell be able to go higher and float for longer periods. This provides enough of a boost to allow him to explore new areas and eventually locate the Mitten Thiefs lair. Other powers will make themselves known as they are needed, and each of the three elves will show up throughout the land to give Marvin a little extra help.

But, although he has formidable allies and a magical mitten, there is one thing that holds him back: curfew. Like any little boy, he needs to get plenty of rest every night. Thus, when evening falls, his mother will call him home for bed, and his adventuring is over for the day. While this slows things down a little, theres no limit to the number of days he spends exploring. One of the elves will also build shortcuts if you can find him, so it progressively gets easier to get back to unexplored territory.

This is a charming game, and definitely one your inner child will enjoy.

Points of Interest

Beautiful hand drawn illustrations

Most games these days make a big deal about their graphics. Many try for fancy, realistic imagery that aims to rival Hollywoods newest blockbusters. Others use pixelated retro graphics in an attempt to capitalize on nostalgia or perhaps focus on faster gameplay. Marvins Mittens, however, uses detailed hand drawn artwork that looks like it belongs in a childs storybook rather than a video game, and it really brings the game to life. I wish more games did this, honestly.

Gradual exploration

Every night Marvins mother will call him home for bedtime. This creates an enforced time limit, which honestly is a really good thing. Without this time limit, the game could probably be beaten in less than half an hour, and youd miss a lot of the details that have been scattered around. Additionally, it makes it more satisfying to see whats next, as you need to put in a little effort to reach that next area.

Sketches to collect

Every so often, Marvin will come across different animals in the woods. If youre cautious, he can get close enough to sketch them down on his notebook. There are eleven animals to find, making this a little optional side quest for those gamers that enjoy finding everything.

The numbering of the sketches is awkward

If you flip through Marvins notebook, youll see that theres a number assigned to each sketch. This is displayed as a number out of eleven (eg, 6/11). Normally, youd expect this to mean you have found six out of the eleven sketches. Instead, this means youre viewing sketch #6 and there are eleven total. Thus, to figure out which ones youre missing, youll need to flip through the entire notebook a few times.

Its rather short

It only took me about two hours to play through the game. On one hand, its a good thing that the game keeps things moving along and reaches its climax before the player gets bored of running through the same areas over and over. On the other hand, its sort of a downer, as whats available is wonderful enough that you might be left wanting more of it.

Concerns and Issues

Nothing can harm you

There are only two things hampering Marvins progress: how high he can jump and his bedtime. There are no monsters to fight, no dangerous pits; nor is anything violent or scary. This game is seriously like a childs winter fantasy.

Magic and elves

Literally the only thing in this game that might concern parents is the presence of little people and their magical world. The elves are tiny people wearing pointed hats, much like young, beardless garden gnomes, and the magic we see them use is mostly limited to snowflake powered flight. Their city is actually run by steampunk-style machinery.