There are wholesome games, and then there’s Adorable Adventures, which feels less like a video game and more like being gently held hostage by a primary school nature documentary. You play as Boris, a tiny boar separated from his family after a forest fire, wandering about a wildlife park collecting flowers, sniffing bushes and cleaning up litter like the world’s least threatening council worker.
It’s all very sweet. Aggressively sweet. The sort of sweet that makes your teeth ache.
Gaming Heaven
To be fair, the presentation is genuinely lovely. The environments are colourful and full of detail, Boris himself moves about with the kind of exaggerated wobble clearly designed to make people point at the screen and go “aww”. And yes, it works, annoyingly enough.
The educational angle is also admirable. You learn about plants, wildlife and nature while pottering around the forest, which is nice if you’ve ever thought, “I wish Blue Peter had more boars in it.” Younger players will probably get a lot out of it, especially since the game is determined to reward basic curiosity rather than skill.
There’s also a very relaxed atmosphere throughout. No stress, no real danger, no pressure. Just a pig jogging about collecting leaves while soft music plays. Riveting stuff.
Gaming Hell
Once the novelty of being an adorable pig wears off – and it does – you’re left with an incredibly repetitive collect-a-thon that mistakes “peaceful” for “nothing happening”. Most of your time is spent wandering aimlessly looking for smells, bins or random trinkets hidden about the map.
And the lack of a proper map becomes maddening.
The activities are painfully simplistic too. Races, collecting, matching colours – it all feels designed for people who still eat crayons recreationally. Older players will likely spend most of the experience staring blankly at the screen wondering if this is what retirement feels like.
There’s some technical jank as well, with Boris occasionally getting stuck on scenery. Which is impressive, considering he’s mainly navigating open fields.
Final Judgement
Adorable Adventures means well, and younger children may absolutely love it. Everyone else, however, will probably find it about as exciting as a leisurely walk round a garden centre.
