Once we all get to a certain age, the nostalgic floodgates unleash and we grasp onto what pampers these feelings. For instance, some of us may rummage through old children’s storybooks and feel embraced by this bittersweetness; the soft, watery illustrations of cozy atmospheres and huggable critters.
Wouldn’t it be so wonderous to bring these images to life, or rather to insert oneself onto the pages and become a curious, childlike Christopher Robin-type protagonist, and roam and explore those vivid landscapes? We had the chance to explore the 100 Acre Woods in Kingdom Hearts III . . . but it lacked a certain storybook appeal.
The Night of the Rabbit, developed by Daedalic Entertainment, presents elegant 2D scenes straight out of a fairytale, coupled with brilliantly charming dialogue and sound design. Originally released in 2013, this title is not your average point-and-click adventure. Players become immersed in the world of Mousewood and set off on a magical journey full of awe and anxiety.
This game can be played on PC, Steam, and the Nintendo Switch.
Welcome to Mousewood
A young boy named Jeramiah Hazelnut has had a lifelong dream of becoming a magician. With only two days left of summer vacation, he suddenly receives a mysterious flying letter giving him instructions on how to summon a chest of magical goods, once owned by famed illusionist Zaroff. Completing this spell initiates the entrance of an anthropomorphic rabbit named the Marquis de Hoto, who identifies himself as a “treewalker.” The Marquis takes Jerry as a magician’s apprentice, and promises to return him home before school resumes.
The Marquis first teaches Jerry how to find portals within certain trees, and walk amongst them into new worlds. Jerry and the Marquis teleport into the magical, parallel universe of Mousewood, full of mice, squirrel, frog, and owl persons. The first chapter of the game tasks Jeramiah with prepping for the Treetop Festival by gathering baked goods, “blue juice,” and sending out magical invitations.
To walk among the trees
In terms of genre, The Night of the Rabbit is a puzzle-solving, point-and-click adventure. Jerry is able to interact with and pick up various items, as well as combine them for unique results. Jerry also has this gold coin with a hole in the center, allowing him to magically see all interactable objects within a scene. Players learn various spells throughout the game, like “rockwhisper” and the “cunning spell.” Jerry is taught how to be a treewalker, so players will traverse through tree portals into completely different areas throughout each chapter.
Players also have extra options, like collecting dewdrops, stickers, “stories” for endgame bonus content, and playing cards. These 32 cards can be used to play a game called Quartet, which you can engage in with the inhabitants of Mousewood and the portal dwellers. It plays similarly to the popular game Go Fish.
Flipping through the pages
The Night of the Rabbit is gorgeous and passionate, akin to the aesthetic of The Tale of Peter Rabbit or Winnie the Pooh but with sharper edges. The game’s landscapes are well-detailed, softly colored, and full of life with the plethora of charming, unusual townspeople. Each character has fully voice-acted lines, which came as quite the surprise. Jerry himself speaks jovially and with wit; personally, I think that his jokes are cringy and his comedic timing is sub par, but it is a nice touch nonetheless. Jeramiah feels like an active protagonist.
The game begins lighthearted and playful but as the adventure continues, some of the settings and story elements grow darker . . . ultimately leading to a final duel and a massive lore drop. The Night of the Rabbit is full of surprises and feels rather dreamlike, but not to the point of nightmarish. Even for a point-and-click game, there is a lot to do. Jerry has to worry about crows and lizards, as well as solve a plethora of puzzles, travel through five different portals, and ultimately pass the test to become a true magician.
A puzzling adventure
As splendid as the graphics, soundtrack, and storyline are, the gameplay itself is kind of dull. The Night of the Rabbit is certainly imaginative, but aside from occasionally learning new spells, the mechanics become stagnant. The game is around 14-16 hours long, but I found myself to grow quite bored just a few hours in.
Solutions to puzzles can be rather strange, or just not intuitive. Clues and advice given from the “Advice Seeker” spell were mostly useless, or even more confusing. Like a lot of point-and-click games, there is hardly any workaround to the mechanics. Feeling stumped will leave players dead in their tracks. While the game itself is innovative, the puzzle solutions are not: such strict, singular answers to problems limit player creativity.
For example, why is Jerry prevented from pocketing strawberries, but is expected to pocket acorns for a future puzzle? Or, if players thought that two items may work together, Jerry would nag “that doesn’t go there” or “hmm, I don’t think so.” A lot of puzzles required an unnecessary order of operations that were pointless–such as players would have to plant a tree in the daytime, not night, or players would have to display a trophy and then polish it, not the other way around. The trial and error to find one bizarre solution was frustrating. For a hefty chunk of the game, I had to relent to a guide just to get over the slog.
Final thoughts
As mentioned earlier, while the game begins like a fairytale, there is an underlying dark plot. However, these darker aspects are hardly uncovered until the final fourth of the game. Slogging through ten hours of tedious, guide-mandatory puzzles to finally get some juice is not preferable. Even then, the final duel is underwhelming at best, and does not integrate itself well. For a moment, it feels like I am playing a different video game, and not one that is particularly better.
With these shortcomings, The Night of the Rabbit is not for everyone. However, overall, this game has fantastic visual and sound design and a hefty serving of storybook charm. The characters are a huge highlight with both their outward and inward diversity, and the game does a fantastic job at putting the player into Jerry’s shoes as if you were exploring the world yourself. I am generally not a fan of point-and-clicks, but I do think The Night of the Rabbit is deserving of some accolades. Story-wise, the game has allure, but overall, be ready for tome toiling.
