Hindsight preview: This game wants you to share in its grief

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Quiet, unassuming adventure games seem to be the police through which game developers share some of the darkest human emotions. Hindsight is an upcoming adventure/puzzle game developed by Joel McDonald and published by Annapurna Interactive. It's about grief, memories, and looking back on your life, as the name suggests.

I was able to see Hindsight in a hands-on preview a while ago, where I watched a gameplay snippet. The game follows a woman named Mary as she returns to her childhood home after the death of her mother. The player can view various moments in Mary's life through "openings" or small objects that provide a window into that era. Openings can be anything, such as a drop of water, a cloud or a flower.

Openings overlap in memories, taking players on a kind of walk through Mary's life and her interactions with her late mother. The openings can also be moved in order to unlock new memories. It's a strictly linear experience, but the user's curiosity will determine whether they unlock optional memories.

Speaking to McDonald and narrative designer Emma Kidwell, they both said the game's subject matter was inspired by real-life experiences. Kidwell told GamesBeat that she sees herself in Mary a lot, and that games featuring adult women are becoming more common in the industry.

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One of Hindsight's main emotional beats is complex grief. As McDonald said, one of the emotional pillars of the game is having to deal with "not always knowing your loved ones". I also don't see enough mother-daughter relationships in games, so Hindsight's story already interests me.

Of course, my only problem with what I've seen from Hindsight is the only problem I have with all games of this genre: getting the player to experience human emotions and empathize with the characters is fine, but a game also needs to make an effort to engage. There is a tipping point where a quiet, minimalist adventure game just becomes uninteresting.

It would break my heart if the game flipped on this, as it looks so pretty and has some interesting core mechanics. But both Kidwell and McDonald have recognized that managing user engagement is a priority for them, so hopefully they can do it.

Hindsight does not yet have a release date, but is expected to launch on Switch, the App Store, and Steam.

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