Milkmaid of the Milkyway has one of the most beautiful stories I've ever experienced from an indie game. On paper, it sounds a bit disjointed and mad: a Nordic farmer living on a mountain above a fjord in 1929 watches her cows get abducted by a UFO and goes to save them. After reading this simple description, I was hesitant to play the game that I thought would be irrelevant and a waste of time.
But, the minute I opened it up to be greeted by pleasing pixellated graphics against charming hand-painted backgrounds - the sweeping blues and greens of the ever-clear sky and the soft grass that coated the mountainside - my mind was drastically changed and after the first 10 minutes, I was fixated on my computer screen. The visuals were the first thing that made me fall in love with this game that was made by one man only - Mattis Folkestad, who has clearly put his heart into his game, making it a very personal experience.
The next things to catch my attention were the audio and the story. Firstly, the music that was constantly playing in the background matched the story perfectly; a sweet melody as Ruth, the farmer, went about her daily chores, tending to her cows, making butter and cheese and sorrowfully reminiscing on her parents' deaths, which can be read about in her journal. Then, the sounds will change as she approaches danger in the form of a malicious alien Queen. The music spikes at this point into deep instruments which really create a feeling of fear and vulnerability in the player. Overall, the music is perfect as not a whole word is said in the game, so the sounds help the player to experience the emotions that Ruth is going through on her journey.
The journey to which I refer is what creates the story in the game. Albeit a short journey, Ruth learns a lot about herself and the world around her, whether aliens are real or not. I mentioned that no one speaks throughout the whole experience, yet there are many words shown as subtitles at the bottom of the screen. These sentences document the story, Ruth's thoughts and every conversation she has with everyone... and every single line is in rhyme. This just adds to the wonder of the whole game as you read through these lines, without the feeling of ever wanting to skip any of the dialogue. It transforms the game into something more majestic and powerful than before.
The narrative follows Ruth on her farm. The game introduces the player to the 90's style point-and-click gameplay, which accentuates the simplicity of the whole game. After one day on the farm, Ruth is awoken in the night and runs to find her favourite cow, Lykke, stuck in the water. Ruth is puzzled as to what has happened. But, her troubles don't stop there as the next day, she sees a massive "vehicle with wings" fly over her and abduct her herd. She jumps onto the craft at the last moment and attempts to find a way inside. The puzzles here and throughout are far from complex so as not to divert the player from the story. Once she has entered, she is introduced to The Age Machine. Ruth's cows are to be put in it to convert their youth to the Queens' space cows, called Milkbeasts. The story continues as Ruth makes friends with the inhabitants of the ship, learns of the Queen's malicious intent and works to stop the Queen and save many people and her cows.
The brief experience lasts just an hour and a half, yet I have never felt so emotionally attached to a cow and its depressing fate, making this a game I couldn't put down until the credits were done, leaving me in a pleasant state of awe.