By gracieashbyxbox 
Not many cosy games start with a childhood trauma theme, but boar with me here. After being separated from his family by a devastating forest fire, Boris the brave baby boar must use his sense of smell to reunite with his siblings in this gorgeous third-person adventure.
You’ll follow your nose through lush forests, open meadows and mountainous terrain while discovering secrets in this cute and compact game.
As a cosy gamer, this felt like a dream but is it actually fun? Let’s get into it.
To find his family, you need to explore the world following scent trails. But Boris is a young boar and his sniffing skills are still in need of refinement, so you’ll often find yourself distracted by other animals or stinky tin cans.
You can help him by exploring and discovering the various scents in his environment, with a helpful check list that opens up the more you explore. It’s as simple as clicking a button and a scent trail will appear, follow your nose, identify the source and learn more about the many flora and fauna surrounding you.
Upon learning about the many smells you will be able to then ignore those smells to aid you on your mission to sniff out your siblings.
But here’s where my first niggle appeared. Whilst the premise of following a scent trail sounds simple, you often set off following a trail, and then it will suddenly snap to a different one, and then another one and so on.
It’s quite chaotic and frustrating at first. Whilst it does quite accurately show how overwhelming it would be in real life, I feel like it doesn’t really translate well into game play and just ends up being a little annoying at first.
Thankfully that option to ignore smells later on once you’ve played for a little while makes it a bit more forgivable. I also ran into a few instances where the scent trails tried to lead me to areas where I couldn’t follow it, insisting i try and ‘skyrim horse’ my way up a sheer cliff to follow a trail when it simply wasn’t possible.
Finding other paths wasn’t too much of an issue but it could be frustrating for younger players.
Eventually following these scents and unlocking and ignoring more flowers and plants will lead you to find your siblings, and they will join you on your journey and unlock shortcuts and more of the map. I found though that rather than adding to the cuteness, they kind of got in my way, crashing into things and basically just jumping up and down in the background without really adding much in terms of gameplay.
The game has some bugs. I fell through the scenery a few times, but there is an “Unstuck” function which might throw you randomly across the map. Your sibling pigs also seem to clip through objects and randomly fall off ledges and such which adds to their annoying presence at times, though it is undoubtedly entertaining.
The main game is only short, probably only a couple of hours long, but there is quite a bit of side content, secrets to find, photos to take and much more, and my absolute favourite … racing! who would have thought boris was a rear…. wheel? drive, pig…. with drift!
I had no idea why this mechanic was even in the game until I found secret race courses and then it made complete sense and was so much fun. Seriously, try it!
While it has its problems, Adorable Adventures is a small and short cosy experience, perfect for those that love to collect everything, love a little mini game and looking for secrets. The puzzles are simple and it’s a nice way to spend an afternoon.
It could do with a few adjustments and bug fixes unfortunately but Boris is very cute, especially in a tin can hat.
If you’re happy with the fact it’s a little samey, but not too long it has a nice vibe and is worth checking out.
- Charming and cosy atmosphere – Beautiful environments and a relaxing vibe make it perfect for casual players.
- Unique scent-tracking mechanic – Following smells is a fresh idea that adds something different to the collectathon genre.
- Fun hidden content – Secrets, collectibles, and surprisingly enjoyable racing sections add extra replay value.
- Frustrating scent trail system early on – Trails can feel chaotic and confusing before upgrades unlock.
- Bugs and technical issues – Clipping, falling through the map, and inconsistent “Unstuck” behaviour affect immersion.
- Limited gameplay depth – Short main story and repetitive mechanics may not hold attention for long sessions.
Reviewed by Gracie Ashby
Discord: Queen_Bee
Fletcher Wilkinson
Leigh Williamson