A Storied Life: Tabitha Review (PC)

To let someone go is to lose precious memories—heirlooms, of sorts, that once told countless stories, of how old trinkets became valuable keepsakes. Junk, to some, yet also prized possessions to another who couldn’t dare to part with their sentimental qualities. If A Storied Life: Tabitha wants to capture anything at all, it’s a memory—a window into a world where seemingly ordinary items carry emotional baggage, and the act of permanently removing them from the world isn’t a sin, but a mandatory reminder that the first step to healing is to see beyond the sentimental.

In a similar vein as the likes of Unpacking and other cozy recollection sims—A Memoir Blue, for example—A Storied Life: Tabitha aims to construct its plot around small interactive touches—old journals, pieces of crockery with personalized engravings, or images that convey a story worth more than a thousand words. Similar in nature, the game invites you to fill the role of a character who, in an effort to rebuild their grandparent’s legacy, decides to enter the former home and begin sorting through old items. However, rather than simply organizing items in chronological order, similar to what you might have done in Camper Van: Make It Home or Unpacking, each item that you unearth here comes with a question: Do you sell a potentially invaluable heirloom, or do you make just enough room in your suitcase to bring it with you?

There’s a strategic element behind A Storied Life—a puzzle, of sorts, that requires you to manage the small amount of space you have in your box, and to decide which keepsakes you should list for auction. The small caveat here is that, in order to learn more about your grandparent’s history, you must connect certain items to a journal—a memoir that, rather inconveniently, has several blank spaces. It’s your job, in short, to find items that resonate with you, and connect their key words to the journal to establish a complete picture.

The good news here is that, regardless of the items that you choose to pawn or retain, there are no bad endings in A Storied Life. Rather, you have multiple outcomes, all of which bend and wean to the decisions you make over the course of the organizing process. As you wheedle through each of the game’s seventeen areas, you earn words, and with the words, a final letter that outlines precious information left behind by a lost loved one. It’s a wholesome experience at its core, and frankly, one that you will absolutely adore sifting through.

With seventeen rooms to sort through and a jam-packed Yorkshire-based countryside home to explore, A Storied Life: Tabitha brings a lot of things for you to enjoy. It’s a simple game I’ll admit, but it’s also one that, for the price, delivers a huge heart and a great deal of value, with numerous endings to unlock, words to unravel, and organizational puzzles to solve. Think Unpacking, but with a helping of puzzles and word-based journaling. That, in short, is A Storied Life.

The game itself is broken down into several parts, with one part being an organizational experience—a job that involves manipulating items and skewering objects to bulk out boxes and what have you. Aside from that, it’s also an interactive story—a clickable tale that invites you to highlight set pieces and learn about various aspects of the world and its role in your late grandparent’s journey. Moreover, it’s a choice-based adventure—a tale that requires you to make vital decisions about each and every artifact that you stumble across. Again, when combined you more or less have a neat and wholesome experience that is, rather gracefully, as satisfying as it is emotional. Nobody wants to part ways with fragile memories, but you, being at the center of it all, are the only person who can learn to let go and appreciate the little things before they vanish forever.

Of course, if you happened to enjoy the simplistic nature of Unpacking and its cozy interactive touches, then you’ll more than likely find a whole lot to love in this Yorkshire estate and its generously decorated rooms. With a hearty collection of words to locate and a multi-tiered heirloom letter to tailor, it should keep you busy for a lot longer than your average Unpacking tribute. Well, it did for me, at least.

The word “cozy” immediately springs to mind here — and for good reason, too. Thanks to its mechanics being mostly comprised of simple tapping, scrubbing, and scrolling, the game doesn’t require you to think outside of the box in order to make headway on your objectives. Rather, you just need to roll with the tide and enjoy it for what it is—a laid-back world shuffling puzzler that occasionally asks you to make a choice. As I mentioned earlier, though, there are no rules to adhere to, and there are no bad endings for poor choices. It could be emotional, comical, or downright nonsensical. Either way, it does a fantastic job of keeping you second guessing each and every word.

Verdict

A Storied Tale: Tabitha illuminates the importance of heirlooms and memoirs in a beautifully crafted puzzle that feels both authentic and emotionally satisfying to wax poetic with. With a simple yet elegant strategic twist and multiple endings to it, it hits the nail on the head and, even as a fairly familiar organizational experience that blends a lot of familiar tropes with a minimalistic gameplay style, stands tall as a great little indie jewel with a lot to offer.

While I would usually have something negative to say about a game that tries a little too hard to steal the thunder from beneath Unpacking’s beautiful rain cloud, this feels like a no brainer. Again, it’s a simple game — so it’s best not to expect perfection. Still, if you happen to be in the mood for a wholesome tale about keepsakes and memoirs, then I strongly suggest that you consider hanging your coat in Yorkshire.