Developer: EndFlame
Nintendo Switch 2 Review
*Disclaimer: I was sent the code for this game on Nintendo Switch in return for a review; all opinions are mine and mine alone.
Instants is a cosy narrative photo scrapbooking game where you put together photos in an album in chronological order. As a crafty girlie, it was right up my street, players can customise and create pages of photos in the right order to tell a story. The bright colours and cute stationery you're able to add to the pages make it feel a lot like a real-life experience. Developers made it possible for players to make each page stand out however we want. As digital media has taken over, it's sad to see the decline in the use of physical photo albums. I, for one, welcome them and think they are a lasting way to pass memories down.
We play the role of a young girl called Maya. Her family have given her the task to piece together a scrapbook filled with different memories from various family members throughout their lives, it's split into 17 different chapters. As you progress through each puzzle, you can build upon a story and see memories of family and friends throughout different stages of their lives. Each picture serves as a clue to unlock the order in which it needs to be placed in. Once you've worked it out, you can customise the pages however you would like them or however you think the person who made the request would like it.
Although this is a very short game, the developers ensured that players remained engaged. Throughout the chapters, you can unlock stickers, washi tape, background patterns and even typefaces and fonts. You can change the angles and place them however and wherever you want on the pages of the scrapbook, giving players more freedom to be creative. The best part of customising was interacting and customising the workspace in front of me, tokens called stellar points are earned in the game, and can be swapped for a different kind of drink, snack and even a cassette tape which takes me back in time!
It's clear that Instants is a very nostalgic and aesthetically pleasing game; it gives players the right kind of relaxation with puzzle solving, and failure doesn't matter because you eventually work out where everything goes pretty easily. It leaves the small things up to the players, and the storytelling is the bulk of the game; puzzle solving just gives us the push to discover it. The game was developed by the Spanish studio Endflame. They have managed to use scrapbooking as a way to open storytelling beautifully. I myself take photos and have a photography Instagram account, where I treasure each memory I have captured. This game has given me the push to start a scrapbook photo album.
Have a cosy day
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