The August Before
- Developer: Silly Little Games
- Publisher: Catoptric Games
- Platforms: PC
- Release date: November 17, 2025
The August Before centers on cleaning up before a move. The protagonist cleans her room, collects and organizes things, finds notes and photographs, reminisces, and relives past events.
Each of the three rooms requires specific actions—finding specific items and assembling puzzle pieces that unlock various episodes. Along the way, the player will uncover a story about friendship and love, jealousy and conflict. Moreover, the player must figure out the plot details themselves by carefully reading the messages on stickers and examining the characters’ photos.
The gameplay is unobtrusive and relaxing. After you pick up an item, you’ll see its destination: for example, if it’s a dress, its silhouette will appear in the closet, and if it’s a CD, the deck on the table will be highlighted with a hint. Trash goes into the bin, memorabilia goes into the suitcase, and posters are neatly folded in the desk drawer .
There are also puzzles : you need to find a key to a locked box, guess a code for a lock , or glue together a broken glass ball. The challenges are simple, but some require attention to detail, such as the Tarot card puzzle.
The August Before’s meditative gameplay is paired with pleasing visuals . However, the developers haven’t managed to avoid some glitches: objects sometimes fall through textures, which can ruin your 100% room clear. Sometimes you have to restart a checkpoint to get a glitched script to work. Considering the two and a half hours it takes to complete the game, there are still quite a few bugs.
Pieces of the Past
- Developer: 9HP Studios
- Publisher: Catoptric Games
- Platforms: PC
- Release date: November 17, 2025
In Pieces of the Past, protagonist Lily explores her family home and repairs objects that belonged to her family while simultaneously restoring her memories of them.
The game features a series of low-poly rooms filled with household items, among which you must find several damaged relics. The repair process is very simple: remove the broken parts and replace them with new ones, then use tools to clean the items of dust and rust. Each object takes no more than five minutes, making it impossible to get confused or misunderstand what needs to be done.
Pieces of the Past’s short duration is its main drawback. It’s not even an evening’s entertainment—it’s an hour’s worth of fun, enough to complete every room, repair every item, earn every achievement, and watch the end credits.
Ultimately, The August Before is more engaging than Pieces of the Past, offering a more cohesive story and complex gameplay. However, both titles are worth checking out, especially if you enjoy meditative games like Unpacking . However, keep in mind that completing both games together will take no more than three hours.