TOEM Review

Synopsis:
Set off on a delightful expedition and use your photographic eye to uncover the mysteries of the magical TOEM in this hand-drawn adventure game. Chat with quirky characters, solve their problems by snapping neat photos, and make your way through a relaxing landscape!

Publisher: Something We Made
Reviewed on: PS5
Also available for: PC, Nintendo Switch, macOS

Developer: Something We Made
Niklas Mikkelsen, Lucas Gullbo

Using the words ‘checklist game’ carries a negative connotation these days, but TOEM is a checklist game in the best ways. For a start, this isn’t a 100+ hour RPG. The second: the checklist is of photography based challenges. There’s nothing but wholesome vibes in TOEM, and although there’s no story or character to get attached to, it’s easy to fall in love with the world thanks to some unique art design.

You play as a small sheep-like character — although I’m not 100% sure what animal they’re supposed to be — armed with a camera and a mission for adventure. Leaving their small town, they venture through four locations, each with a unique cast of characters, creatures and photo challenges. The end goal is a mountain top, where the phenomena of ‘Toem’ is said to take place. However, to get there — via bus mind-you — you need to earn stamps from citizens by helping them. Earn enough stamps; you’ll be able to catch a bus ride to the next town.

Sometimes you’ll come across someone like this ghost who’s after an item you need to find in the wild, rather than something you need to take a photo of - image captured by the author — *Sometimes you’ll come across someone like this ghost who’s after an item you need to find in the wild, rather than something you need to take a photo of – image captured by the author*

Each location has a theme and a local form of wildlife to humanoid and anthropomorphic creatures all fitting with the design of that particular place. You start in a forest area where young kids are playing hide n seek; move through an ocean-side town where the local fisherman fear a great King Fish; find yourself in a big city where the workers seem to be on lunch consistently, and finally, arrive at the final destination of a mountainside resort.

When you first land in one of TOEM’s locations, you’ll quickly pick up many tasks by talking to characters. Some of these you’ll be able to solve instantly. Others may require you to come back later, accessing an area you can’t currently, and on some rare occasions, being unable to complete the task until you return after beating the game. You don’t need to complete all the challenges before you can move onto the next area via bus. You can certainly fly through TOEM and even speed-run it if you want to do that.

Snow days you have to stay warm and wooly with an extra scarff ontop of your fur - image captured by the author — *Snow days you have to stay warm and wooly with an extra scarff ontop of your fur – image captured by the author*

The photography challenges range from very straight-forward “take a picture of an axe, a tree and an ant” to more obscure notes about finding a way to photograph something that would inspire someone to whistle. It’s the latter I left until looping back after rolling credits.

Some of the more complex photography challenges will often link together as well. I was stuck trying to solve one for 10-15 minutes before finding what I needed to take a picture of, and that then revealed the item or location I needed for another challenge.

You can easily play through TOEM in an afternoon, and it’s a very relaxing game to commit your Sunday to. From the monochrome hand-drawn art style to the lo-fi music, it’s nothing but a chill time. At no point do any of the photography challenges become too complicated or overbearing. The locations are all nicely sized, so you don’t feel overloaded with areas and characters to remember their whereabouts.

Play

My only real annoyance is that you can only store 128 photos at a time, and you can quickly run out of space at the start of the game, especially if you’re like me and you’re preemptively taking pictures of things I’m assuming I could need later. Of course, I also want to keep some photos for personal use. You can even take selfies in this adorable game, so I was, of course, doing that a lot.

I happily cuddled myself up for an afternoon to playthrough TOEM, and it cuddled me back. I’d suggest the same plans to anyone wanting a lo-fi and relaxing photography adventure that’ll make you feel good.