I have to say, ‘Stolen Hearts: Wolf Knight’ by the solo developer, Mr.Moo, of Mr. Moo Games, has created one of the most endearing and whimsical platformers I have played in 2024, thus far.

The premise is quite simple. You are a knight and you protect the little village of Hearts you call your friends. One day though, while everyone is being merry, the Wolf King comes to ruin the festivities with his minion pals. He kidnaps the Heart people and spreads them across the forests for you to rescue, so you must rise up and adventure on as the newly appointed ‘Wolf Knight’.

The story is straightforward to pick up through the opening cut scene but I do wish more was fleshed out a little; where did you all come from? Who is the Wolf King and why is he so damn mad? A little bit of text on screen would have been a nice introductory touch to lift up the storytelling.

Your main objective is to platform through ten levels at a time in each area. Along the way, you must avoid enemies and obstacles such as spike fields, roaming critters, and even the Wolf King himself at times.

As time progresses, you learn more manoeuvres that get you further and to the end a little quicker, and as you progress through the levels, you collect Heart villagers, carrying, or even hurling them to safety at the end of each level.

On some levels, you will come across minions of the Wolf King, and knocking these creatures out will imbue you with their powers such as a rapid dash, flying, or even teleporting around. This was a really innovative way to change up the gameplay and I loved using each unique animal ability.

Controls-wise, as a platformer, there is a need for specific and accurate controlling. Using the arrow keys to move, space to jump and shift to dash, I was elated when I realised this legend had made the game controller compatible. I have never plugged in fast enough. As I mentioned, platformers are all about responsive controls as only a minute mistake can lead to your downfall in a run, and using a controller offered great responsiveness while creating a challenging yet satisfying platforming experience.

A great little touch is the fact there is also a store. This means you can customise your little knight with cute little things such as glasses or a fairy dust trail, offering great incentives to replay levels to earn more stars or to find fireflies to buy gear in the store.

The graphics are a gorgeously pixellated style with bright and dark colours contrasting across multiple levels. Each background is a distinct season and the forest changes as you progress, almost as if passing through time. It’s a subtle but nice touch. While the music scene is quite generic in its atmosphere, it is a good choice for adventuring, with soft tones in the background of a normally stressful or clutching scenario as you only just make it to a destination.

In Stolen Hearts: Wolf Knight you need to ‘Be Strong. Be Smart. Be a Hero’, and I definitely think it executes the sentiment well. It has challenging and nail-gripping gameplay that satisfies you fully when you reach the end of the level. This is exactly why I love indie games; despite some of the generic elements of most platformers, you can really feel the heart and soul put into it.

Written by: Stacey