When The Past Was Around

Wordless point-and-click puzzle adventure through fragmented memories of love

Mojiken · Published by Toge Productions · Released Sep 22, 2020

Adventure Casual Indie

Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive; 95% of 4,432
Recent reviews: Very Positive; 92% of 14 in 30 days
Playing now: 0; right now
Steam Deck: Verified
Last update: 5 years ago; Sep 24, 2020

Free demo available, 0 playing it now: get the demo.

Metacritic: 77/100 (critic reviews)

What is When The Past Was Around?

This 2D point-and-click adventure follows Eda through disconnected rooms drawn from memories of her relationship with the Owl. You search scenes for clues, solve puzzles, and unlock doors as their story unfolds without dialogue.

For you if...

+you like short, quiet stories about relationships
+you enjoy searching scenes and solving approachable puzzles

Not for you if...

−you want challenging puzzles instead of straightforward object searches
−you want a long game with dialogue-driven storytelling

What players say

95% of 4,432 reviews are positive · 92% of 14 in the last 30 days

Players praise the hand-drawn art, violin music, and the way the story conveys grief without dialogue. Some find the puzzles too simple or the object hunting repetitive, while others find the story thin or its ending unclear.

Screenshots and trailer

When The Past Was Around system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1
Processor: 1.8 GHz or faster processor
Graphics: Direct X 9.0c compatible video card
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Storage: 2 GB available space
DirectX: Version 9.0c

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Achievements: 20
Steam features: Cloud saves, Family Sharing

Steam Deck: Verified

All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
Shows Steam Deck controller icons
In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck

Multiplayer and co-op

Single-player

Languages

Text only: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Spanish - Latin America, Portuguese - Portugal, Simplified Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Indonesian.