‘Night in the Woods’ (PS4, PC) is a side scrolling, narrative driven adventure game developed by Infinite Fall. After its release in February, the game was met with well-deserved critical acclaim.

The setting is Possum Springs, a fictional former mining town located somewhere in America. The player takes control of Mae Borowski, an anthropomorphic cat who has recently dropped out of college and has returned home to live with her parents. Most of the gameplay consists of walking through Possum Springs and spending time with Mae’s friends, who include a fox named Greg, a chain-smoking alligator named Bea, and Angus the bear. Mae and her friends can go on small adventures which involved little minigames and self-contained short stories. The minigames are inventive and charming, ranging from playing music in a band, to discovering constellations with Mae’s old teacher.

Styled in bright cartoon artwork reminiscent of a story book, the story of ‘Night in the Woods’ deals with Mae’s return to town, where she is reunited with her friends and attempts to readjust back into life in Possum Springs. This simple premise continues until the Halloween celebrations, when Mae witnesses a shadowy figure kidnapping a lone teenager. The game then takes a sharp lurch into the surreal, as Mae’s mental health suffers, and the true nature of the kidnapping is revealed.

The game is not without its faults. Despite the wonderful supporting cast, the first half is tiringly slow. Your patience with the game will probably depend on your patience with repetitive tasks. One is grateful when the second act rolls around, and things finally start happening. And yet, once the action gets going, the story becomes relatively hard to follow; the player is suddenly thrust into the task of discovering the town’s history, which is confusing with the unclear events making it hard to form a coherent timeline.

Still, those inconveniences are easily forgiven given the game’s beauty. From the soundtrack to the art style, the diverse array of characters, many of which are LGBT+ (Mae is pansexual, and Gregg and Angus are in a relationship), to the fun minigames, almost every aspect is lovingly crafted. It’s incredible for a story about a cartoon cat to include a disassociated youth, a dying town, an old cult, and a hungry god. The realism of the atmosphere is absolute in even the smallest details; even the sign outside the town reminds you: “you’re not lost, you’re here”.