The past year has brought out a lot of games that let you simply explore nature, and for a good reason. While we’re all finding things to do inside, it’s easy to miss what it feels like to simply walk amongst trees, streams, and woodland creatures without any inhibition. It’s been said before, but those reasons are exactly why I wanted to pick up Nuts, the newest game from the small team composed of Joon, Pol, Muuutsch, Char, and Torfi. Nuts is a surveillance, photography game with the oddest bit of mystery worked throughout it.
The premise of this game is great. I’ve never looked at a squirrel and thought, “What do you get up to during the day?” but now I feel like I should. If there’s anything I learned from Nuts, it’s that small woodland creatures can be quite devious—devious enough to stockpile dynamite. In all seriousness, Nuts does an amazing job at taking something as simple as monitoring squirrels and turns it into a full surveillance project regarding deforestation and the lengths we and the animals that inhabit it will go to protect nature.
From the very first assignment in the game, it’s clear that the Melmoth Forest is an important set-piece. The mystery that slowly unravels isn’t simply about the secret life of squirrels and what squirrels do when people aren’t looking. Each assignment and call from the boss tells the story of a researcher desperate to save a forest that no one seems to be protecting. It’s an interesting way to work conservation into a game that on the surface seems like it’ll only ask you to take photos.
The gameplay of Nuts is simple but the difficulty definitely ramps up as the days go on. As the player, you’re tasked with setting up cameras to film and track squirrels. From there, you screenshot pivotal moments in their routines; where they keep nests, how they move throughout the forest, where they go when no one is around. Each assignment definitely took me at least 10 days (or tries) to complete but the process felt extremely detailed and I enjoyed it even through the more tedious parts.
One of the most distinct aspects of Nuts is the artistic style. While the sound design is immersive, the art is abstract and poppy. It’s honestly beautiful the way each area has its own flat color scheme that shifts depending on the time of day. It’s a great way to set a nature based game apart from the others. The only issue I ran into was visibility. While the colors were beautiful and I took a lot of screenshots, it made navigating in the game and discerning areas difficult for me, as I have bad eyesight. It wasn’t a huge strain, but caused me to slow down a bit during longer play sessions.
I really enjoy bite sized games and while Nuts has a lot to offer and a lot to do, it still has the feeling of a game that doesn’t require unnecessary effort and time. It’s one of those comfortable games that you return to after a long day or when you need something to calm down with.
Nuts is currently available on Apple Arcade and is coming to Switch, PC via Steam on February 4.
