Hello Kitty Island Adventure players are being mercilessly stalked by Cinnamoroll, a bipedal puppy who doesn't blink: "It's actually kinda freaking me out"

A screenshot shows the mail carrier Cinnamoroll flying down a rainbow toward Hello Kitty.
(Image credit: Sunblink)

Hello Kitty Island Adventure dares to wonder what society might be like if it were completely populated by Sanrio's babyfaced original characters, and while this society is indeed more adorable and full of strawberry shortcake, it's also home to the dangerous stalker Cinnamoroll.

"Why is Cinnamoroll always following me?" one of many panicked Redditors asks. "I love him and he's so adorable, but it's actually kinda freaking me out."

"There's no escape from him," gravely states another post.

In Hello Kitty Island Adventure, the pudgy marshmallow dog Cinnamoroll acts as your burgeoning island's package carrier, so he's always flying from mailbox to mailbox with wings on his cap, the same kind the messenger god Hermes is often depicted wearing. Witness his mythically fearsome form: Cinnamoroll has a permanent puppy smile, puffy ears that look like a tube of frosting, and a stubby curled tail that looks like a cinnamon bun. OK, fine, he's the cutest creature to ever grace this undeserving Earth.

And, in his defense, he's been cheerfully lurking around Hello Kitty Island Adventure since the life sim released for Apple Arcade in 2023 - it's not maladaptive behavior he's only recently picked up to cope with the game's new Switch and PC releases. I know this, because I was one of his victims.

I remember it like it was two years ago. There I was, running around my Hello Kitty Island Adventure with my gorgeous dog protagonist, trying to deliver gifts like pineapple stack cake and seashells to my island friends, when Cinnamoroll began to block my path with his tubby body. I ran into him, sliding him around the sand, and all he did was smile at me. Unblinking. Just wreaking havoc on my mellow.

"Once I found out he was a dog and not a bunny, I’m like oooh. He's just a puppy following me around all day," says what seems to be a new Hello Kitty Island Adventure player on Reddit. Sure, yes, maybe. Whatever helps you feel safe from Cinnamoroll's cute power.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is the latest example of how cozy games are secretly pretty dark at their core.

Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.