A fairy tale about children, reincarnation, and witches. Dark at its core, but surprisingly light in its presentation. A Slavic village inhabited entirely by children and teenagers, who serve as their own leaders, bakers, hunters, and healers. They have their own pagan religion, with supreme gods (the Lords) and lesser spirits. The whole society revolves around religion, and the only adult around is the head of the village—an ancient thirty-year-old woman who's been in power too long and is rumored to have lost her mind (even fictional kids understand the importance of leaders stepping down, lol).
The atmosphere brings to mind Gogol's supernatural weirdness. For more modern references, there's Pathologic and the movie Midsommar, although this interactive fiction certainly has its own identity. The Mildew Children is about 90% dialogue, with minigames woven into it. You can turn those off, transforming this half-game, half-fiction into interactive fiction where you just walk left and right. The 2D art is detailed enough to be a treat for the eyes without overwhelming you, so I was perfectly comfortable spending hours reading about the adventures of the witch Kyrphel.
And while the text is available in a whole bunch of languages, the voice acting (which you can also turn off) is Russian-only. Fully aware of my privilege as a Russian speaker, I thoroughly enjoyed this audio drama! Almost every single line is voiced, and the performances are phenomenal. The voices fit the illustrated characters perfectly, with all the flair of classical theater. And the articulation is crystal clear! Huge respect to the sound director.
From a literary standpoint, the writing is rather simple. The characters behave fairly predictably, and some don't even have proper arcs. That doesn't make the writing bad. Just keep in mind that this is more entertainment than literature with some grand message. And it doesn't pretend to be anything it's not, either. Bonus karma points to the creators for that.
An excellent read/audio drama. I'll take a break from the format before jumping into their next game, Sister Ray, about an artist dealing with addiction and a younger sister by her side. But that'll be a whole different story, set in a different time and place.