A sleepy-looking town, a bag full of parcels, and a mail carrier far more interested in what’s happening behind the curtains. Tom the Postgirl, a narrative adventure co-developed by ARTE France and independent Swiss studio Oopsie Daisies, launches on October 29, just ahead of Halloween, on PC and Mac via Steam and on Nintendo Switch.
The game is set in a town that seems peaceful but is clearly off in some way. Players take on the role of Tom, a mail carrier who gets tangled up in strange incidents on every delivery round.
Tom’s job goes beyond handing parcels to residents. Along the route, players peer through windows and gaps in doors to catch the secrets the townsfolk are hiding.
Tom the Postgirl catches the eye with its art. Hand-drawn, black-and-white visuals and painstaking frame-by-frame animation make it feel like reading a dark fairy-tale picture book. Beneath the charming look runs sharp black humor and an eerie, offbeat mood.
Delivery Is the Excuse; Snooping Is the Point
The story follows Tom, newly arrived in town as its mail carrier. The job is delivering parcels, but at every opportunity Tom peers into other people’s homes. Windows, doors, and cracks in walls all hold clues to the residents’ secrets.
The townsfolk include a self-obsessed mayor, an orphanage that looks suspiciously like a dog kennel, and a chainsaw-wielding hippie couple. Not all residents are human: there are pigeons dealing drugs in the cemetery, a drifting cowboy earthworm, and a grumpy squirrel.
Players can complete deliveries diligently, or stir up trouble by wrecking neatly trimmed hedges and flowerbeds and stealing ornaments. The developer says Tom commits these misdeeds without ever losing an innocent smile. The story branches into multiple endings depending on how you play, and there are achievements and unlockables too.
Black Humor in a Black-and-White Picture Book
Hand-drawn backgrounds and frame-by-frame animation give the game a retro, hand-crafted feel. The calm impression of the monochrome visuals contrasts with the residents’ outrageous behavior.
The developer describes it as combining the innocent aesthetic of illustrated picture books with the absurd, rough-edged sensibility of Adult Swim cartoons. It also cites Thank Goodness You’re Here!, known for its destructive absurdism, and Dumb Ways to Die, known for its black humor, as points of comparison.
The game is rated PEGI 16, and the Steam page notes cartoon violence and partial nudity.
From Art-School Graduation Project to ARTE Co-Production
Oopsie Daisies is an independent studio based in Zurich, Switzerland. Longtime friends Léa Coquoz, Lorenz Kleiser, and Floris Demandt made the game together.
Tom the Postgirl began as Coquoz’s bachelor’s project at the Zurich University of the Arts and grew into the team’s first commercial release.
Oopsie Daisies handled development, while ARTE France and Oopsie Daisies co-produced the project. It also received partial support from Pro Helvetia, the Swiss arts council.
Showcase Appearances
Tom the Postgirl has been featured at the Swiss Game Awards, Summer Game Fest’s Day of the Devs, and Ludanarracon, and a demo was previously available on Steam.
The game sells for €9.99, with a 10% discount on Steam for the first two weeks after launch. Korean is supported for interface and subtitles; there is no voice acting.
Who This Is For
Strong fit for: fans of absurdist, darkly comic adventures like Thank Goodness You’re Here!; lovers of hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation and picture-book art; players who enjoy exploring a small town and uncovering its secrets; anyone looking for a short, offbeat Halloween-season game; Korean-language players, with interface and subtitle support.
Cautious fit for: younger players or anyone sensitive to crude humor, given the PEGI 16 rating with cartoon violence and partial nudity; players who prefer voiced dialogue.
Less ideal for: those seeking challenging puzzles or action.
The Takeaway
Tom the Postgirl takes the humblest job in town and turns it into a license to snoop. A cast of a vain mayor, chainsaw hippies, and cemetery-dealing pigeons, rendered in hand-drawn black and white, gives it the feel of a picture book that knows exactly how dark it’s being. Grown from an art-school graduation project into an ARTE co-production, it arrives just in time for Halloween.
Release: October 29, 2026, on Steam (PC/Mac) and Nintendo Switch. €9.99.
Information regarding ‘Tom the Postgirl’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Oopsie Daisies |
| Publisher | ARTE France |
| Genre | Narrative Adventure |
| platform | PC/Mac (Steam), Nintendo Switch |
| Release date | October 29, 2026 |
| price | 9.99 Euros (10% discount for 2 weeks after Steam launch) |
| Player count | Single player |
| language | 11 languages including Korean interface and subtitles (voice not supported) |
| rating | PEGI 16 |
| Reactions/Evaluations | No Steam user reviews, positive reviews from international media |
| Steam Page | Shortcut |
