Comforting and intuitive, Shumi Come Home has you playing as a tiny mushroom buddy, lost in a forest, just trying to get home. You’re barely big enough to pick up a coin but you’re brave enough to explore every corner of this forest, meeting and helping critters along the way.

Home Is Where The Mushroom Is

Published by Mooneye Studios and developed by SomeHumbleOnion, Shumi Come Home is an adventure game similar to A Short Hike and Lil Gator Game. There are some RPG elements in the sense that you can increase your stamina and gain a dash — and that’s just what I discovered in the demo. But really the appeal of Shumi Come Home is in the cozy questline that heavily leans on collecting and trading items. From finding artifacts, aka loose change scattered on the forest floor, for one creature to buying a blueberry from another to lure out a hungry lizard that’s in the way. 

Visually, the art style is simple with a bit of a retro feeling. You can even lean into this and toggle on a completely pixelated aesthetic. But the mix of nature and the things man has left behind make the forest feel lived in. And the lighting peaking through the tall trees above invites me deeper into these woods. 

Most importantly, Shumi Come Home controls great. Climbing, running, swimming, jumping, and gliding around the forest is a breeze. And what makes it memorable is the attention to detail and charming dialogue from the forest inhabitants. 

I love the way Shumi’s leaf glider slowly fades from a summer green to a late fall brown as your stamina runs out. I love the fact that when he climbs up a wall he does it with little rock-climbing claws. I love the fact that Shumi’s running animation is the Naruto run, with his arms held directly behind him in determination. 

Throughout this adventure, you’ll do some light platforming and puzzle solving but all of it works so seamlessly together. You see a yellow, empty spot on the ground and just instantly know to pick up the nearby yellow flower and place it there. Like many games in this style, there’s no map in Shumi Come Home but you don’t really need one. While I’m sure I’ll get turned around a few times while playing it’s easy to figure out where to go given just a little time and there are a few signs in the forest to help orient yourself. Plus, one of your forest friends will serve as an in-game hint system.

Shumi Come Home is an absolutely lovely game that seems designed to bring out my inner completionist. 

Shumi Come Home has a 2023 release window and will launch on PC and Nintendo Switch.