Since I’ve hit my 40s and recently lost a parent, I keep finding myself drawn to games that deal with sentimental family affairs and games that reflect back over someone’s life choices. This is where Undusted: Letters from the Past comes in. It is a beautiful and satisfying game to play, and also one that left me thinking long after I’d finished playing it.
We play as Adora, a daughter who receives a letter from her aunt to return back to her family home to pick up a valuable and sentimental necklace that the aunt has left behind. We aren’t privy to the family dynamics straight away, but it is clear that we have been absent from the family home for some time. Over the course of 16 chapters, we will venture into the family attic and find family items to dust, polish, and clean up as good as new. Each item has its own story to tell in the family history, and they are present in key moments in our main characters’ lives. We gain insight through flashbacks and modern-day reminiscence about what went down, and it is well thought out and put together.
The bulk of your time in Undusted will be cleaning. Each object can be flipped and rotated around in full 360 degrees. Most items also have interactive elements. A cassette player has play, rewind, and eject buttons, and when the cassette holder opens, you’ll need to clean inside it. These grooves, nooks, crannies and hidden compartments are what make each item fun to clean. They are like tiny diorama puzzles, and often they bring surprises. The camera still works, and yes, you can accidentally take a photo of yourself for a Steam achievement. The ocarina plays notes as you clean the breath holes. It is all these tiny details that make Undusted feel like a premium title.
You’ll have four pieces of cleaning equipment that work for different things. The scouring pad gets rid of surface muck, and the toothbrush gets in all the little grooves. They’ll be your main duo, but an electric fan that requires charging can help in really tricky places like typewriter keys, and a cloth will buff up glass into a shiny penny. They are all easily shaken around with the mouse. Almost every item comes with a hint that unlocks when you’ve cleaned the required percentage. Hint mode refers to pressing the Tab key to reveal where all the remaining dirt is. It’s a simple, elegant way to get players to the required 99% clean rate, and if you want that 100%, it’s not too hard to do.
With cleaning a breeze, and extremely satisfying to complete, the story is given room to breathe. The items cast light on your teenage dreams, and the dreams your parents wanted and had for themselves and for each other as a family. It is a thoughtful expression about having inner grit and determination to pursue the things you love, even if you might not be world-class at them. Passions and loves can be just that, and that’s good enough. In the age of chasing perfectionism in a keyboard warrior world, it’s a wise lesson to learn. It also made me think about the things my dad didn’t get to do before he passed away. There was always something practical to do, and he didn’t get to experience much, although he appreciated every happy break he had. Undusted’s story stuck with me long after playing, as I’m at a bit of a crossroads in my life, and I hear the call of less practical ideas getting louder as I get older.
Aside from being only a couple of hours long, I have no criticisms of what Undusted: Letters from the Past provides. It is a streamlined, approachable, cleaning sim that is satisfying to play and offers lots of support to prevent you from getting stuck. The story will hit home for us sentimental and thoughtful flowers, and it does it without being campy or overly dramatic. A lovely game.
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