Instants Review
Where there is washi tape, there is love.
I’ve never been a crafty girl, particularly because my visual style leans more abstract and disorderly when it comes to making something cute and aesthetic with my hands. Little did I know, Instants was all I needed to rein in my chaotic crafting skills, and end up with some very charming virtual photo albums. And it has a perfectly heartwarming and bite-sized story to boot.
In Instants, developed by Endflame, you play as Maya, a woman who is notorious for making thoughtful and aesthetically pleasing scrapbooks for her friends and family. Each of the 17 chapters of Instants will prompt Maya with a different request from a particular family member or friend, and the collection of photos within the chapter represents a fun or significant time in that person’s life. As Maya, you arrange and decorate photo albums that illustrate moments like your parents’ first meeting, family vacations, and even sleepovers with friends from high school years.
Instants in Action
As a former digital camera kid who documented every weekend hangout and uploaded my group snapshots to MySpace the very next day, I was thrilled to see that Instants was taking a similar approach for some of the chapters. Most photos were casual, and some of them even gave off the vibe that they were taken with a disposable camera. While the photos were adorable and told many stories about Maya’s family, I wound up fixating over the damn fine scrapbooking decor sandbox style gameplay!
Before I wax poetic about stickers and washi tape, I’ll say that Instants requires you to arrange all of the photos for each album chronologically, which is where the puzzle element of the game comes in. Most of these are easy to figure out, but if you decide you need some help, clicking on your little cat friend will assign a number to each photo. You can then arrange them in numerical order, which will then unlock your ability to rearrange the photos and continue decorating to your heart’s content. Endflame is executing this very simple concept with smooth and satisfying gameplay mechanics, which makes completing each chapter just engaging enough while keeping things chill, cute, and cozy.
Hand crafted, from the heart
So, what kind of crafting supplies are we getting into here? We’ve got washi tape, stickers, markers, pens, and several different patterns of beautiful crafting paper. Each item is customizable, so you can change the size and color of all decorating supplies! To make things extra sweet, you unlock new colors and stickers after completing each chapter. If you enjoy going hard on some virtual arts & crafts, you can sink HOURS into this game just by decorating alone. The items also make the most perfect and satisfying sounds. I’m about to washi tape an entire page just so I can hear that tape pull. The upbeat lo-fi music is pleasant enough, but the accurate sound FX from each crafting supply really brings it home for me.
There was an unexpected richness and diversity to Maya’s family, relationships, and experiences. Discovering this via collecting and arranging photos is an enjoyable and interesting way to take in a story.
After getting the photos in the correct order, I really fell in love with decorating my pages in extreme detail. So much so, that I forgot about the people in the photos until it was time to move on to the next chapter. I should also mention that the interactive environment in which you are creating these albums has a lot of charm! It includes a customizable plate of snacks, drinks, and a tape player with headphones, where you can actually flip through the different songs. The vibes are pretty immaculate, and the visual design is stirring up some major nostalgia.
Instants Trailer
As far as storytelling goes, Instants provides many sweet and wholesome memories, but that doesn’t mean that the story is totally devoid of conflict and surprises! Without spoiling anything, it felt particularly special to have this game release and to play it during Pride month. There was an unexpected richness and diversity to Maya’s family, relationships, and experiences. Discovering this via collecting and arranging photos is an enjoyable and interesting way to take in a story.
Since finishing the game, I’ve gone back to decorate my pages more thoroughly, and I’ve often thought about picking it up to unwind. I really appreciate how polished, smooth, and thoughtful this game turned out to be in the end. The millennial cozy gamers will really take to this, especially fans of games like Sticky Business or Assemble With Care. I also think this would be a great game for kids or folks who are just getting into gaming. It’s quite simple to get the hang of, and gives plenty of room for creativity, while staying contained enough and very approachable in length. I recommend it if you’re looking for something easy and pleasant to experience. If you, like me, won’t be picking up the crafts IRL anytime soon, Instants will definitely scratch that itch!
Kate’s Score: 8/10
Kate was provided with a review key of Instants by Future Friends Games
About No Small Games
No Small Games is an indie game recap and review podcast brought to you by hosts Kate and Emily! They became friends while streaming on Twitch and bonded over their love of indie video games. In each episode of No Small Games, the two will discuss an indie game they both played independently. They’ll compare their experiences: the good, the bad, their most memorable moments of their playthroughs.
Learn more about the podcast and its hosts on the About page.