When The Past Was Around - Prologue similar games & best alternatives

When The Past Was Around - Prologue

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2019

Should you play it?

This is the prologue chapter of "When the Past was Around", an upcoming adventure point-and-click puzzle game about love, moving on, letting go, and the joy and pain of everything in between.

What works
  • Beautiful hand-drawn art
  • Soothing and fitting music
  • Emotional and poetic narrative
  • Simple and accessible puzzles
  • Relaxing and calming atmosphere
Things to keep in mind
  • Very short demo length
  • Puzzles are too simplistic
  • Music can be repetitive and annoying
  • Lack of story clarity for some players
  • No audio options to adjust music volume

What to play next

Similar games, hidden gems, and fresh directions from this game.

Top picks

Games that feel the closest overall

  • Season of 12 Colors

  • The Last Dream: Developer's Edition

  • Rumu

  • A Space For The Unbound - Prologue

  • Memory Oblivion Box

  • Port of Call

  • Refind Self: The Personality Test Game

  • Oblivious Garden ~Carmina Burana

  • A Story Beside

Hidden Gems

Less popular games with surprisingly high similarity

  • The Last Dream: Developer's Edition

  • Rumu

  • Memory Oblivion Box

If you liked…

Recommendations by what you enjoyed most

Similarity map

Explore nearby similar games and see why they’re close.

How to use the graph
Similarity map

Each dot is a game. They are arranged from the same motivation profile as in the “Why this game works” section below. Closer dots usually mean more similar reasons to play (exploration, competition, relaxation, etc.)—not that one game is “better” than another.

  • Purple star: this page’s game — everything on the map is relative to it.
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot for a screenshot preview, score, and top score gaps; click to compare in the panel on the right.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom out and see more games.

Why don’t the axes read like a score? This view uses t-SNE: it only keeps who is close to whom. The scales are not “good to bad” or hours played—they separate groups on the map. Read distance between dots, not the axis numbers (hidden on purpose).

When The Past Was Around - Prologue: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Survival, Violence, Competition, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Intimacy. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Strategy, Expression.

Why this game works

A motivational profile of the game, with the closest similar game for each player motivation.

  • Autonomy

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    3

    "Players direct their own actions in point-and-click exploration and puzzle solving with freedom to explore scenes and find items at their own pace."

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    "Players direct their own actions through point-and-click mechanics and puzzle solving, with freedom to explore scenes at their own pace."

  • Competence

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    "Puzzles are easy and straightforward, providing a mild sense of accomplishment but minimal challenge."

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    "Puzzles are simple and easy, providing some sense of accomplishment but minimal technical challenge."

  • Competition

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    "No competitive elements; focus is on personal experience and story."

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    "No competitive elements; focus is on personal experience and story."

  • Continuation

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    "Players express desire to continue playing and follow development, though the demo's short length limits habitual play."

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  • Cooperation

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    "Single-player experience with no cooperative gameplay."

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  • Creativity

    Game with the same Creativity vibe

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    "Players interact with environment and solve puzzles creatively, though within a predefined game world and mechanics."

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  • Domination

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    "No elements of exerting control or superiority over others."

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  • Escapism

    Game with the same Escapism vibe

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    "Players use the game as a relaxing, emotional, and immersive escape with calming music and art."

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    "Players use the game as a relaxing, emotional escape with soothing music and art."

  • Expectation

    Game with the same Expectation vibe

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    "Engagement is voluntary and driven by personal interest in art games and narrative exploration."

    Capsule for The Path The Path

    "Engagement is voluntary and driven by intrinsic interest in art, story, and puzzles."

  • Experimenting

    Game with the same Experimenting vibe

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    "Some exploration of puzzles and environment, but mostly straightforward interactions."

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  • Exploration

    Game with the same Exploration vibe

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    "Players explore new locations and uncover story elements, though within a limited set of environments."

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    "Players explore new environments and discover story elements through interaction."

  • Expression

    Game with the same Expression vibe

    -3

    "Limited customization or self-expression; players experience a fixed story and character presentation."

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    "Limited customization or self-expression; players interact with fixed art and story."

  • Fantasy

    Game with the same Fantasy vibe

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    "Surreal, dark narrative with imaginative fiction elements and a mysterious owl character."

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    "Imaginative, abstract narrative with surreal elements like owl-headed character."

  • Fellowship

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    "No social or community features; solo experience."

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  • Growth

    Game with the same Growth vibe

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    "Some learning through puzzle solving and narrative understanding, but limited depth and short duration."

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    "Some learning through puzzle solving and narrative understanding, but limited complexity."

  • Health

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    "Sedentary gameplay with no physical activity."

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  • Idle

    Game with the same Idle vibe

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    "Requires focused attention during puzzle solving and narrative progression."

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    "Requires focused attention during puzzle solving and story progression."

  • Intimacy

    Game with the same Intimacy vibe

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    "Emotional intimacy through narrative connection with characters and story."

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    "Emotional connection to story and characters, conveying intimate feelings of love and loss."

  • Leadership

    Game with the same Leadership vibe

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    "No leadership or group management elements."

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    "No leadership or group management elements."

  • Progression

    Game with the same Progression vibe

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    "Progression through collecting items, solving puzzles, and unlocking story elements."

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    "Progression through unlocking new scenes and story segments, with item collection for puzzles."

  • Relaxation

    Game with the same Relaxation vibe

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    "Calming music, gentle pacing, and soothing art style contribute to a relaxing experience."

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    "Calming music, gentle puzzles, and soothing art create a relaxing experience."

  • Sensation

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    "Enjoyable visual art and music provide sensory pleasure and emotional stimulation."

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  • Status

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    "No social recognition or status systems."

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  • Story

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    "Strong narrative immersion with rich writing, events, and thematic depth integrated into gameplay."

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  • Strategy

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    "Puzzles require some thought but are generally straightforward and simple."

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    "Puzzles require some thinking but are generally simple and straightforward."

  • Thrill

    Game with the same Thrill vibe

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    "Low suspense or risk; experience is contemplative and emotionally steady."

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    "Low suspense or risk; experience is calm and contemplative."

  • Value

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    "Demo is free and well received; players feel good value for time spent and look forward to full game."

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    "Free demo well received; players feel good value for short, artistic experience."

  • Violence

    Game with the same Violence vibe

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    "No combat or destructive gameplay; focus on constructive puzzle solving."

    Capsule for Superliminal Superliminal

    "No combat or destructive gameplay; focus on constructive puzzle solving."

  • Survival

    Game with the same Survival vibe

    -5

    "No threats or survival mechanics; stable, low-risk environment."

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    "No threats or survival mechanics; stable, low-risk environment."

Last update: 01/06/2026