Instants – Explore Three Generations of Family Photographs

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” – Ansel Adams

Overview

Instants is a wholesome puzzle game in which players must compile photo albums by deducing the chronology of a series of family snaps, slowly getting to know the family in the process.

Gameplay

Instants has simple gameplay mechanics that primarily involve organising a group of photos into chronological order. Players take on the role of Maya, who gets approached by various family members to create albums of photos from specific times or events, often to be given as a gift. The requests are received in the form of letters that are delivered by Maya’s pet cat. Despite the general simplicity, the game begins with a short tutorial that guides players through the controls and objectives.

Each album is a separate chapter of the game. Clues found within the images themselves, as well as the occasional bit of text on the back, help the player to deduce the correct sequence, making for unique and satisfying puzzles. It is possible to inspect the individual photos; this allows them to be viewed at a larger scale and to be flipped to view text if there is any. To further aid the player, arrows will appear when a photo is placed incorrectly. The arrows will be green if there are no errors, yellow if the order is correct, but there are images missing from the sequence, or red if the order is totally wrong.

Besides working out the correct order for the photographs, players can choose how they wish to lay them out within the album, how many pages to use and where to place the images on the page. Once this is done, the pages can be customised with a choice of background papers, decorative tapes, and stickers. These can be further customised by changing the colours, size, position, and other details. More of these items are awarded for every completed album, gradually giving more creative freedom to decorate the pages. Instant also boasts an in-game photo mode that allows players to capture and share their creations.

Maya works on the albums at a table or desk. Along with the album and photos, the desk also holds a pencil case for customising the albums, a plate of snacks and a beverage that can be consumed, and a Walkman. The objects can be switched out between chapters, and players can purchase more options using tokens that are awarded alongside the customisation items on completion of an album. Since completing the game awards the exact right amount of coins needed to purchase the whole collection, it is not difficult to do so, nor is there any need to replay anything to earn more tokens. However, players may want to replay individual chapters after completing the game in order to explore customisation options that weren’t available for the earlier photo albums.

Narrative

Instants consists of 17 chapters or photo albums. Each one with a specific focus, but all depicting the lives of three generations of Maya’s family, starting with her grandparents. Through the various images, the family’s story is told in a way that is highly accessible due to the visual format. The very occasional snippets of writing on the back of photos are the only text pertaining to the narrative.

The game is incredibly wholesome, and the different albums focus almost entirely on positive events such as a proposal, parenthood and children, a first car, graduation, and a wedding. Characters include Maya’s grandparents, parents, aunt, uncles, siblings, friends and a partner, all of whom, plus Maya herself, the player will get to know and build a connection with through the photos.

The story is well constructed and delivered in a gratifying way. It is entirely intertwined in the gameplay, with more of the narrative being the primary reward for progress. It is engaging and interesting despite the lack of drama, and it fits perfectly with the laid-back style of the gameplay and charming aesthetic.

Styling

Instants has a soft painterly art style that uses vibrant pastel colours and subtle textures that create a cute, somewhat twee vibe. The photographs are more illustrative than the rest of the visuals, which is a nice distinction that emphasises the importance of the images within the game.

The music is very relaxing. There are a variety of tracks available, ranging from light and jazzy to more lo-fi-esque numbers. Amongst the variety, they remain consistent with low to moderate tempos and gentle beats. Players can choose which track to play using the Walkman that can be found on the table on which Maya is compiling the albums.

Instants has a great overall aesthetic with the audio and visual elements working harmoniously with each other, but also with the narrative and gameplay. The calm and positive feel of these other aspects of the game is reinforced and emphasised by the styling, helping to create a delightfully cohesive experience.

Summary

Overall, Instants is a delightful, narrative-focused game that offers an original take on the puzzle genre. It will take around 2-4 hours to complete and boasts effective narrative design and an endearing storyline, as well as simple but satisfying gameplay, charmingly cute visuals, and relaxing audio. All these elements combine perfectly to create a wholesome gaming experience with a calm, casual feel. Fun extras such as the interchangeable table objects, tokens, customisation, and photo mode allow players to get creative while working on the chronological conundrum of organising the photos.

I very much enjoyed playing this game and found myself getting quite engrossed in the different aspects of the gameplay and narrative. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for an uplifting and immersive experience, or to fans of more casual puzzle games.

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