Muri: Wildwoods Steam Demo Review
Verdict: Maybe
A gentle, visually appealing platformer that lacks challenge for those who need more than casual exploration.
At one point I found a lily pad and sat on it. It looked like a catapult. The kind of thing that, in a more chaotic game, would fling you somewhere unexpected with a comedic sound effect. It was not a catapult. You just sit there and look at the view. That moment tells you everything about what Muri: Wildwoods is and is not.
Muri: Wildwoods is a casual platformer where you clean an oil-covered island using a bubble gun. The mechanics work well and the graphics look good. Players who need challenge or threat may find it hard to stay engaged.
Pros
- Solid platformer mechanics
- Appealing visuals
- Relaxing and casual pace
- Charming creature design
Cons
- No real threat or danger
- Lacks clear player motivation
- Very little challenge
- May feel aimless for some players
Context
I picked this up during Steam Next Fest 2026 after coming off a run of more demanding demos. I wanted something lighter. Muri: Wildwoods is genuinely lighter. You are Pelle, a Muri, a creature somewhere between a mouse and a fish, sent to a corruption-covered island on your first solo cleaning mission. The bubble gun clears the oil, colour returns to the world, creatures come back to life. As a loop it is satisfying in the way that tidying a room is satisfying.
What Works
As a Platformer it handles well. Pelle moves cleanly, the jumping feels right, and the world is designed with enough verticality to keep the exploration interesting. The art is lovely throughout: vibrant colours underneath the corruption that get revealed as you clean, creatures that are genuinely cute, environments that look like they were made by people who enjoyed making them.
The Simulation side of the cleaning is simple but effective. Spraying away corruption and watching an area restore itself gives you a small hit of satisfaction each time. For players who want a relaxing Indie Adventure to sit inside for an hour, this delivers exactly that. The demo has no fail states, which research confirmed rather than me discovering it, because I never found anything threatening enough to test.
Where It Lost Me
The problem is I kept waiting for something to push back. Not combat, not punishing difficulty, just any moment where the game asked me to think or react. Every time I thought the environment was setting something up, it turned out to be scenery. The lily pad. A structure that looked like it might have a puzzle. A path that seemed like it might lead to danger. All of it resolved peacefully.
Forty minutes in I had enjoyed myself in a mild way but could not tell you what I was working toward. There is no threat to the island that affects Pelle directly. No timer, no cost to failure because there is no failure. That is a deliberate design choice and the right one for the audience this is made for. It is just not an audience that includes me.
Verdict
Maybe, with a clear sense of who the maybe is for. If you want a calm, visually pleasant Platformer with light Simulation cleaning and no pressure, this is exactly that and it does it well. If you need some form of stakes to stay engaged, the demo will feel pleasant but directionless. Worth forty minutes of your time to find out which side of that line you are on.
Game Info
- Developer
- Speldosa Interactive
- Publisher
- Speldosa Interactive
- Full release
- TBC
- Platform
- PC, Linux
- Multiplayer
- No
- Controller
- Yes
- Playtime
- 40min
Watch the video review: YouTube
Tags: Platformer, Indie, Adventure, Simulation, Exploration, Cute, Casual, Relaxing, Cozy, Steam Next Fest 2026
Appears in
- Steam Next Fest 2026: Steam Next Fest throws hundreds of demos at you at once. I played them so you don't have to. Here's every demo I reviewed from the fest — rated Play, Maybe, or Skip.
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