Adorable Adventures scampers out on PC and consoles

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Demo also available for cozy 3D animal collectathon on Steam

What's the most important sense for an adventure game? Usually sight, followed occasionally by hearing, right? Not so in Wild Sheep Studio's newly released Adorable Adventures, however, in which it's the protagonist's nose that will be doing most of the heavy lifting. 

This isn't your ordinary protagonist, mind you. Instead, players will control Boris, a curious and "mischievous baby boar brimming with energy." Boris lives in a scenic national park, renowned for its "awe‑inspiring vistas, diverse terrain, and remarkable variety of flora and wildlife." His carefree existence proves to be short-lived, however, when a forest fire breaks out that is contained before it can do too much damage but requires the park to be closed down. In the commotion, Boris is separated from his family and must now set out to find them on his own. To do that, he'll need to make use of his greatest asset: his nose, learning to "harness his incredible sense of smell in order to navigate stunning natural landscapes and, slowly but surely, reunite with his scattered brothers and sisters."

Adorable Adventures lives up to its title with a charming little snout-nosed protagonist and a gorgeous variety of 3D environments "inspired by the Cévennes National Park in Southern France" that will take players "across rolling meadows, sun-dappled forest paths, deep caves, and rocky highlands." The key to finding your six missing siblings is the ability to follow scents, depicted on-screen as a meandering trail of coloured lights. There's just one problem: the park is full of all kinds of smells that can easily interfere with an inquisitive young boar's pursuit. The trick, then, is to find and identify enough samples of competing odours, from flowers to fungus to left-behind human trash, to train Boris NOT to be distracted by them, thus allowing him to continue his quest unimpeded. Thorough adventurers can continue seeking more out to complete Park Ranger Maxime's notebook, along with a hoofful of other collectibles, but beyond the mandated number you can decide for yourself when that'll do, pig. 

Adding to the complication is that not only must you find Boris's family members, you must then help them or convince them to join you in a new home by "solving puzzles that match their individual personalities." Sleepy Gary, for example, may need a "much-needed boost of energy" to rouse himself first, while "little sister Mimi loves to play hide-and-seek, but is sometimes too adventurous for her own good," and the "nature-loving Rock" is depressed about the "burned remains of the once-proud oak trees" and requires some cheering up. Solving these problems is never complex, however, always involving the same process of identifying and filtering different aromas. Players are encouraged to slow down and enjoy the sights and sounds as you "expand your library of smells" in guiding young Boris on his "journey of growth and self-discovery." There's a range of "playful side activities" to engage in as well, allowing you to "compete in time trial races, master photography challenges, tidy up the park, and maybe even solve the mystery of a local legend" along the way. 

The full version of Adorable Adventures is available now on Steam and Epic for Windows PC, along with console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. A playable demo can also be found on Steam if you'd like to give it a sniff test first. 

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