Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club – A wholesome but repetitive adventure for the young—and the young at heart.
Even though Snoopy has been around for more than 75 years, this dog is still one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world. Snoopy got his start in the classic Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. He has since danced on pages, screens, and even music records (“Snoopy vs. The Red Baron “). Cradle Games and GameMill Entertainment have now developed Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club, a cozy puzzle game that you can play on PC and consoles.
Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club aims to bring the simple joys and beauty of the Peanuts world to life through an interactive experience. It’s not quite a follow-up to a specific Snoopy game, but it’s like Snoopy vs. The Red Baron and other family-friendly Peanuts movies. Unfortunately, even though the tone is very true to Schulz’s world, the gameplay feels too safe and repetitive at times.
Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club is all about solving riddles, as the name suggests. This isn’t L.A. Noire, so don’t expect any high-stakes crimes. Kites, snacks, and baseball bats that have been stolen are some of the secrets in this book. It’s cute and easy, and it’s perfect for younger players who just want to explore Charlie Brown and his friends’ cozy suburban neighborhood.
It’s all very Peanuts-like — charming, wholesome, but never truly challenging.
As the main detective, you’ll be in charge of Snoopy, and Woodstock will always be by his side. You will meet and talk to all of your favorite Peanuts characters, like Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Schroeder, Marcie, and more. They give you hints, small quests, and some of them join your “Mystery Club” to help you solve mysteries, though it’s funny that they don’t do much other than follow you around.
There are four chapters in Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club, and each one is about a different mystery. Along the way, you’ll have to do some side jobs and fetch quests. For the age group it’s meant for, the story format works well, but older players may quickly notice how thin each case feels. You don’t really have to figure things out on your own; instead, you’re led step-by-step through a set of tasks that lead to a clear result.
Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club is a light action game with a lot of fetch quests at its core. For almost every goal, you have to talk to one character, get something from another, and give it back to get a hint. You’ll have to pick the four right answers that solve the mystery once you have enough clues and a few red herrings.
It will also take a lot of time to switch outfits. Snoopy gets new themed outfits as the game goes on, and each one has its own tool or skill. If you put on a deerstalker hat, Detective Snoopy can follow pink footprints with a magnifying glass. Treasure is being dug up by Pirate Snoopy. Beagle Scout Snoopy gets rid of things that are in the way, and Gardener Snoopy uses a leaf blower to find things that are hidden. These outfits are cute and add a small puzzle element, but having to swap them out all the time gets old fast.
There are different areas to explore, such as the familiar streets of the suburbs, the music hall, the forest, and the school. Each of these places has its own map. Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club is easy to play, even for very young children, because the goals are clearly marked. Some of the backtracking is cut down by quick travel at bus stops, but there is still a lot of walking to do, often just to start a single conversation line and then have to walk all the way back.
It’s not much of a detective game — more of a cheerful errand simulator.
Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club doesn’t have any fight scenes, which is great for the mood. The game instead features mini-games and puzzle-like tasks interspersed throughout the main story. There is a football kicking challenge, a baseball pitching game, soapbox car races, card-matching memory games, and even a short Red Baron-themed flight sequence.
These mini-games are fun and different, but they’re pretty simple and don’t have a big effect on the main story. There are three levels of difficulty for each, but none of them are really tough. For kids, they’re great escapes, but for adults, they just feel like filler.
Picking out the right clues to solve each chapter’s case is what the game calls a “detective puzzle,” but they are sadly too easy. The “mystery-solving” part of the game feels like an aside because it pretty much tells you what to do. There are no real deductions or consequences, so there is no drama or reward in the game.
There isn’t a normal way to gain experience or level up in Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club. Instead, success is tied to finishing the story and finding collectibles. By solving problems, Snoopy can get new clothes and skills that let him go to new places.
There are also hidden comic strips scattered throughout the map, which is a nice way to honor Schulz’s work. If you discover all 20, you may read them in the game. This makes it fun to accumulate things. Players may also find Woodstock’s eight lost buddies to get to the last chapter. These bits make exploration more entertaining, but they don’t really add much to the game.
The art in Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club is perfect for the Peanuts style. The soft 3D models keep Schulz’s classic hand-drawn charm while adding movement and warmth. The images are expressive, and Snoopy looks great in all of his different outfits.
The world itself is warm and nostalgic, with bright fields, neat fences, and sunny skies in every picture. No matter if you’re running through the pumpkin patch or exploring the school rooms, each setting feels alive in its own way. The bad thing? There isn’t much choice. You’ll go back to the same places over and over, and after a while, even younger players may notice.
Both docked and pocket modes of the game work well on Switch and Switch 2. But the original Switch takes longer to start, and it doesn’t have touchscreen functionality, even though it would have made sense to include one. Still, the performance is stable, and the graphics are, without a doubt, one of the best parts of the game.
It’s hard not to smile watching Snoopy chase clues in his little deerstalker hat.
The sound design stays true to the Peanuts vibe, with jazzy, light songs that remind me of Vince Guaraldi’s famous piano themes. The soundtrack does a great job of capturing the cozy, classic warmth of the series. The charm is increased by background noise and happy effects, but the loops can get boring after a while.
It’s a nice treat that all of the main Peanuts characters have voice acting. It sounds like the voices are real, which makes me think of old Peanuts shows. If you’d rather skip talks, you can click through them. This is helpful for the many fetch quests.
Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club is a sweet and gentle adventure that captures the spirit of Peanuts perfectly, but as a game, it doesn’t always work well. The puzzles are easy, the mini-games are boring, and the fetch tasks keep coming up, even for very patient players.
Still, it has some charm. It’s a fun way for kids to start playing adventure games. For people who miss their childhood, it’s a sweet, relaxing walk through their memories. The art is beautiful, the humor is subtle, and Snoopy is still as lovable as ever. But all that charm hides a dull, repetitive experience that never quite lives up to what it could be as a detective story.
If you like Peanuts, you’ll enjoy the memories and attention to detail. This isn’t the kind of deep and interesting story game you’re looking for. Even so, there’s something incredibly heartwarming about following Snoopy and Woodstock’s tracks one more time.
