Pieced Together review – A touching narrative game that brings together the sweet and bitter parts of friendship | games

THere are some of the saddest things from the end of a close friendship. Whether it happens in a sudden moment of betrayal or after years of gradual separation, feelings of loss can stay with you for life.

That’s the theme of Pieced Together, a quiet and charming narrative game about best friends Connie and Beth, who meet at school in the 1990s and form an instant, seemingly inseparable bond. Through the innovative medium of interactive scrapbooking, we take on the role of Connie, pasting together photos, notes and memories of her friend after years of separation. The game begins with several attempts to write a letter to Beth, before we cut, paste and put together their life story.

The scrapbooking process is divided into chapters from Connie’s life. She moves to a new area with her mother, marked by images of a moving truck, a good luck card, and a sticker reading “Connie’s Stuff” that was stuck on a box full of her stuff. You place these elements on the pages, thus telling the story. Connie celebrates her birthday shortly after moving in and none of her new colleagues accept an invitation to her party except Beth. There are photographs of that day, and afterwards, trips to London, sleepovers, drawings and notes. In the end, they pass exams and vacations until life becomes more complicated.

Sometimes you have to figure out which memories go where – and the process reveals poignant moments of brotherhood. Connie helps Beth with her homework, and Beth helps Connie deal with her feelings and have fun. There are fun little interludes, like creating a bit of cat history, and plenty of puzzles where you might have to figure out Connie’s exam schedule or help guide her through the catacombs of Paris. But all the while she’s piecing together a pictorial history of the friendship. Over time, there are big decisions to make and you’ll have a little say in how things are handled between the girls. But what the game wants you to know – and what I think we all realize – is that some things in life are inevitable.

What I love about the scrapbook format is the way it gently turns the player into a visual collaborator. You can place photos and notes where you want, edit them to fit, or overlap them if you want. It is also possible to open sticker packs so you can add your own stylistic decorations to the pages. Unfortunately, although you can re-read chapters after you finish, there doesn’t seem to be a way to revisit your scrapbook, which is unfortunate because I’m stuck a lot The stickers inside me – a process that gave me more ownership of the story. I guess I’ll have to play again.

Created by a team of just four people, headed up by BAFTA-winning artist and designer Kate Killick, Pieced Together is a short game – you can finish it in a few hours. But at the time, it contained an enormous amount of detail about childhood and teenage life in the 1990s: filling out magazine tests, writing anonymous love letters, and the freedom of spending early holidays with friends. It also cleverly illustrates how, even when we focus more on our peers, our parents still have an enormous emotional influence. A subplot has Connie awkwardly bonding with her absent father and his new partner, and leaning on Beth for support. It’s a complex moment told only through notes and photographs, and it’s all the more powerful for it.

From Life Is Strange to Undertale to Knights and Bikes, indie games have proven to be a rich and exciting medium through which to explore the theme of friendship. Pieces Together is another example, a beautiful and subtle little game that turns nostalgia into art in more ways than one. After finishing it, I was inspired to call up an old friend who I hadn’t talked to in a long time and wasn’t sure I would ever do again. Good games can be like good friendships: they encourage us to see things anew.