The little gemstone that Quill discovers in Moss is both powerful and dangerous, and dealing with the implications of discovering it serves as the catalyst for her quest. There’s also a slight touch of Lord of the Rings about Moss, which sounds odd, but again that goes back to the folktale heritage on the game.

Moss is similar, from the perspective that mice and other small woodland animals have human-like society and motivations, and much like Adam’s work, it’s quite beautiful in the way it humanises these animals. Along the way they run into cats, dogs, a militant rabbit clan run by a fascist dictator (I kid you not), and, of course, birds of prey, the rabbit’s greatest fear of all. His masterpiece was Watership Down, a book about a community of rabbits looking for a new home after fleeing a farmer’s attempt to “remove” them from his farm. Adams, for those who haven’t read his books, took animals and gave them a human-like ability to communicate and interpret the world around them. Moss is one of the most beautiful appropriations of the classical folksy aesthetic and structure that I’ve come across, mixed in with some Richard Adams-style storytelling.

You also serve as another set of eyes, looking around environments for secrets and ways through its puzzles. You – as in the physical you – are a “storyteller,” brought into the world through very particular magic, and, when an adventurous little mouse, Quill, picks up a magical crystal, you become her partner in her adventure, helping her by manipulating the environment and protecting her from threats in the world. It doesn’t take long to realise why it’s important to Moss, though.įirstly, the VR perspective is woven masterfully into the delightful folktale-style narrative of Moss.

It’s a third person puzzle/ platformer, after all, and it’s not a genre you would necessarily think benefits from what VR offers as a platform. Initially, it might seem strange that the game’s forcing you to play in VR. This is one of the finest uses of the PlayStation VR hardware to date. Then, the deeper you dig into it, the more delightful it becomes. Moss, thanks to its achingly charming mouse protagonist, is immediately appealing and engaging. I know a game has something special about it when I’m playing, and my wife sees it in passing, taps me on the shoulder, and asks me to have a go.

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