Last month, I received a notification that the "Oh My Anne" mobile game was available to download for iOS, and I decided to check it out and review the game.
This new mobile app was announced back in December 2022. The game is based on L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. After the game's soft launch, it was released more widely this spring.
You can view the lovely "Oh My Anne" trailer here:
The game's trailer begins with Anne looking for her daughter Rilla Blythe. Rilla is holding a dandelion puffball. When Anne asks Rilla what she is doing, Rilla uses sign language to explain that she is making a wish to the "dandelion fairy" to be less of a burden to her mother. Anne is shocked at Rilla's fears and reassures Rilla that she is not a burden. Anne explains that when she was young, she was just like Rilla and that the unconditional love she received at Green Gables changed her life. Rilla asks to hear more about the story of Green Gables. Anne tells her to make a wish to the dandelion fairy to hear the story.
Anne counts to three and Rilla makes her wish and blows. A dandelion seed flies through the air and across time to the door of Green Gables where a young Anne Shirley turns around.
The mobile game begins with this same sweet trailer. I found it touching and surprising that Rilla was deaf and had fears that she was a burden to Anne considering that Rilla was not deaf in L.M. Montgomery's stories.
After the trailer, you begin the gameplay. Each day when you log in to the game, you receive a reward for your attendance.
In episode 1, Anne encounters Green Gables with Matthew.
According to the game's storyline, Marilla was injured when she fell off her rocking chair, so Green Gables is quite dusty. Anne aims to help by cleaning and re-decorating Green Gables with new furniture. She's just entered the house and hasn't even met Marilla yet, so her behavior is quite forward and a bit odd.
You can play various matching games to earn coins and dandelion fairy points. These coins and points allow you to redecorate and move forward in the gameplay.
In this matching game, Anne Shirley is being chased by an angry bee.
The game is free-to-play, but there are additional locked features and rewards for players who purchase in-game virtual goods for microtransactions with real money. These features include special photos and dresses for Anne.
The dialogue for the game is a bit amusing. At times, Anne is even more dramatic in the game than in L.M. Montgomery's stories.
Overall, the game is good for passing time if you enjoy matching puzzle games and decorating games. The animation scenes are playful, and Anne is very expressive. I'm not quite sure where the storyline is going as Anne discovers more about Green Gables and Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. I think younger players might find the game more enjoyable than older ones (like me).
I hope that the animators who created the trailer will make an animated Anne of Green Gables film in the future. I was intrigued at the relationship between Anne and Rilla, the fact that Rilla was deaf, and the use of sign language in the trailer. I'd love to see how they would continue Anne and Rilla's storyline in a novel way.
Have you played the "Oh My Anne" mobile game? What did you think of it?
