There is an unbridled joy at the heart of Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. It's a whimsical and carefree spirit of a game that captivates with its unpretentious charm. It’s no wonder its final heart-wrenching sequence will draw raw emotion from the bottom of your heart—despite its brief three-hour runtime.

Alba has come to Pinar del Mar for a week’s holiday with her grandparents, but she quickly discovers a quest: petition to stop the construction of a lavish hotel in order to save an ailing nature reserve. While the task might seem steep for a pre-teen, Alba's up to the challenge. Saving the reserve requires chilling with the local townsfolk, exploring many delightful locales, and snapping pics of cool animals with her grandpa’s smartphone.

Though the characters are simple and stylized, their movements and facial expressions exude personality from the deftest of motions. As Alba runs along a path, she will often burst into a skip for several steps, before stretching her arms wide, as though soaring in the wind like a carefree eagle. Several times through her journey, you’ll be asked a yes/no question; rather than using simple dialogue boxes, you physically move Alba’s head up and down or left and right for an exaggerated nod or shake—accompanied by a dopey grin or furrowed brow, of course.

These lovingly animated quirks connect you with the people and animals you interact with across the island, which builds a fierce desire to protect this place and its way of life. Picking up scattered trash, healing sick squirrels and fixing up boardwalks aren’t simply tasks to check off a list—they are meaningful actions that impact a fragile ecosystem.

Humanity and nature are often depicted as being at odds with one another—dangerous beasts stalk the wilds while humans lock themselves in boxes of steel. Alba makes a case for a more natural coexistence; a world where animals flourish alongside people. A world where ibis hang out in the rice fields and falcons can make a decrepit castle their home, while humans enjoy an afternoon in the sun with a delicious carrot gelato.

Towards the end of the journey, Alba’s phone pings with a message: Trash has blown across the beach, and animals are stuck in the muck. Mechanically, it’s little more than clicking on a few seagulls stuck in disposable six-pack rings, but in the moment, you are there on the beach with a dozen other townsfolk, saving the animals from a terrible fate.

That may not be the moment that brings a tear to your eye—there are several other opportunities for that—but the feeling it stirs in your heart can’t be beat. Alba will conjure pride and joy within you; it's utterly disarming in its ability to make you smile, even just for a little while.