When The Past Was Around offers a gripping, mysterious story of two souls venturing through memories, all conveyed through intricate puzzles.

The story revolves around a girl and an initially-shadowy figure. You’ll be armed with only your mouse as you click around for clues. Perhaps cleaning up will reveal a curious code, or throwing things around will loosen a brush. Maybe even steal some bread. The puzzles shown in the demo are quite interesting and will get a few ‘A-ha!’ type moments out of players.

The most compelling aspect of When The Past Was Around is its masterful illustrations of a cozy environment. Each line of detail or highlight on an object is perfectly placed. I cannot praise this art style enough. It is breathtaking and speaks such volumes in a game with no words.

There is a contact of the Rusty Lake sequence to good-looking, hand-drawn puzzle recreation When The Previous Used to be Round, which in a similar fashion deposit you in a sequence of rooms that should be investigated, probed, principally clicked to top heaven till you’ve gotten found out their myriad secrets and techniques.

Whilst it is only a demo, there is nonetheless a couple of rooms’ value of puzzles on be offering, which must stay you busy for a while (say, the simpler a part of a lunch hour). You play as a lady seeking to get well her previous, even if as the sport’s wordless, and greater than a bit of obscure, I best actually know that from the itch.io description. It is a reasonably fantastical, candy and kooky journey set in a sequence of down-to-earth home places, every stuffed with fixtures or curious to open, and most likely drums to bang to make a pleasing noise.

Long past is the macabre environment, however, there is a similar emphasis on tactile puzzle-solving, as you tear open containers and disturb furnishings to seek out puzzle items. You are accompanied to your quest via a large shadowy bloke who I suppose is an owl-man? Remedy the puzzles in every room and he will deliver you to the following, on this beautiful, superbly hand-drawn recreation.