Cozy Game Reviews was given a complimentary game code for The Spirit and the Mouse, courtesy of the Alblune social media team. Our game reviews are always objective and honest; read more about our transparency policy.
The Spirit and the Mouse is a relaxing, story-driven puzzle platformer set in the quaint French town of Sainte-et-Claire. Play as a small house mouse pitter-pattering along cobblestone streets, climbing trellises woven with ivy, and slipping into barely-there nooks and crannies to traverse the small town. Thanks to a freak thunderstorm, the power across Sainte-et-Claire has gone out, leaving its various residents in distress. Our wee little protagonist longs to help them, despite feeling too small to make much of a difference—until she has a chance run-in with Spirit Guardian Lumion, that is. Lending her his powers, Lumion asks that she wrangle the various electricity-producing Kibblins around Sainte-et-Claire, fix the residents’ power issues and collect their Happiness, and thus help the trapped Spirit Guardian return home to the skies.
Gifted with her new electricity powers, our little mouse heroine will set out to unlock and explore different areas of town, locate Kibblins and help them with their tasks, restore power to hopeless humans, and gather collectables along the way. Most of the core puzzles are easy enough that they won’t cause players much pause. Instead, the (admittedly moderate) difficulty comes from deep exploration of an often maze-like townscape: How do you get from point A to B to accomplish your task? Finding hidden pathways will be key, as will knocking down boxes to create stepping stones; knowing when and where to drop down from above; turning into electricity to slither through wires; and “warping” through electrical fences with yet another Spirit-given power.
For anyone who doesn’t like solving missing pathway puzzles, this game won’t be for you. I, however, enjoyed scampering up and down back alleyways and across rooftop ledges looking for new ways to get to where I needed to be. The Kibblin Boxes tend to be located up high, in an obscure corner of the rooftops, so you’ll need to use all your wiles to reach them as a 3-4 inch tall mouse. Things that seem obvious or easy as a human prove to be insurmountable to a tiny rodent. But being so small, you can also slip into places others can’t—balancing on overhead garden eaves or slipping between breaks in chain-link fencing.
As you locate Kibblins, each will ask for help with assorted tasks before agreeing to return to the electricity box that powers the grid currently giving your various human targets grief. The mini-game style activities vary wildly—from memory games, to rhythm, to logic puzzles, and even hide-and-seek. The variation in objectives keeps the game from getting stale, as does the crisp ~5 hour gameplay experience for the main storyline (though collection side quests could keep you occupied for twice as long). But the reality is that Sainte-et-Claire is such a pleasure to explore—with ASMR mouse footsteps and a melancholic piano soundtrack as accompaniment—that players won’t be looking to make a quick exit anyway. Some may even long for one additional chapter, a handful of additional quests, just to enjoy a bit more time among the sleepy French hamlet (as I did).
The Kibblins are an absolute pleasure. Having left their electrical boxes, each can be found perched around town dilly-dallying with some distraction or another. You’ll find them fishing, training for a race, stuck in the sewer grates, hiding on awnings from “ghosts,” and even trying to repair damage from the storm. These little balls of eccentric light infuse the sleepy town with a sense of humor and levity, often making me laugh aloud with their antics and exaggerated facial expressions. Not only do you get to meet and greet each one, becoming intimately familiar with their unique quirks, the game also allows you to revisit them when one final, special project ends up requiring all hands on deck.
By peering into windows, you’ll come to learn of each human’s electricity woes: an artist who needs the lights back on to paint, a student who can’t submit her final project without a running laptop, a flustered man who just wants something to eat in his toaster oven. Each are silly and memorable in their own way, but the story that captured my heart and carried it skyward was the last one. Once all is said and done and power is restored to Sainte-et-Claire, our little mouse senses something amiss and convinces Lumion to stay and help one last time. In the western segment of town, a woman lives off-the-grid using solar panels to power her home (meaning: no Kibblins). And she wishes for nothing more than to have the city lights go out, just for a moment, so that she can watch the meteor shower.
The game doesn’t overstay its welcome, instead leaving a slight ache of wanting more—which can be partially sated by hunting down 120+ collectible light bulbs hidden around town to 100% the game. Although a relatively short game, The Spirit and the Mouse has a level of depth and heart that makes it a full and rich experience. In a unique twist that I haven’t felt with a game before, The Spirit and the Mouse made me feel like I was participating in the telling of a fable. I have no doubt that the core message—no one is too small to make a big difference—is one that will resonate with players in a profound way. The game transcends “video game” to become fairytale, a story we would surely pass down around the clan campfires if humans still did that sort of thing.
The Spirit and the Mouse Review: Summary
Here is the quick TLDR of my The Spirit and the Mouse review for those who are in a hurry.
Pros
- A heartfelt, powerful narrative about making a difference
- Soundscape is truly a pleasure to listen to, from music to effects
- Easy, relaxing puzzles that won’t frustrate
- Mesmerizing visual setting with cottage-core vibes
Cons
- Not for those who want difficulty/challenge in their puzzles
- There was some lag on Switch (I’d recommend Steam)
Final Verdict
This short, emotive puzzle platformer is definitely worth paying full price for: between a tight 5-hour story and double that in completionist sidequests, there is just enough to get your money’s worth without having the game overstay its welcome. The story feels like a fairytale or myth in the realm of The Ugly Duckling and The Little Red Hen. With a sweet and hopeful message, The Spirit and the Mouse will endure as a powerful reminder that even the smallest of Mother Earth’s critters can make a big difference.
Who The Spirit and the Mouse is for:
- Players who like relaxing, atmospheric exploration
- Story-driven cozy game lovers
- Cottagecore aesthetic enthusiasts
- Those who enjoy uplifting, hopeful messages in their games
Who The Spirit and the Mouse is not for:
- Anyone who expects or needs challenge in their games
- Folks who don’t like poking in every nook and cranny on the map
- People who would be dissatisfied with a 5hr game experience
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Stay cozy, gamers!