In ‘Hindsight,’ players explore memories and come to terms with grief

It’s uncanny how many memories a single photo can unlock. This idea — that objects can act as apertures to our past, revealing things we never even realized we forgot — is the core mechanic in “Hindsight,” an upcoming narrative exploration game from Annapurna Interactive.

The game follows Mary, an up-and-coming chef who puts her life on hold and returns to her childhood home after her mother dies. As she sifts through what her mother left behind, players can interact with these objects, which become conduits to Mary’s memories, and gradually piece together Mary’s life story as she narrates.

“Hindsight” is the work of developer Joel McDonald, a former Call of Duty designer who created the critically acclaimed mobile game Prune, a meditative puzzle game about taking care of trees, and narrative designer Emma Kidwell. Kidwell’s text-based games, including “Half,” which was featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum Arcade, have been lauded as poignant explorations of identity, mental health and other personal themes.

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Alyse Stanley