Momento Review – Not Just Holding Onto The Past

I’m somewhat of a memento keeper, I love collecting little trinkets that remind me of certain memories, people, or represent my hobbies. My bookshelf is filled with such knick -knacks; a tiny teddy bear that came with my flower girl dress for my dad’s wedding when I was three years old, gift shop jars of Sahara desert sand from my mum’s holiday to Tunisia, a small glass angel from my great-grandmother’s display cabinet, and so much more. Some, such as my Game Boy Advance, my first ever games console, represent significant moments in my life which defined my hobbies and interests, others just look cute.

Fat Alien Cat and Nomo Studio’s Momento is a cozy decorating game with a twist; while tidying up and decorating a wide range of different rooms, we are also given choices in what items to keep – which then go on to define the character, Sam, whose room we are decorating – determining their future hobbies, living situation, and even their careers.

The three-person developer team were inspired by watching their young children grow at the time of development, and their wonder of what possibilities their lives would hold. Momento is based on this premise, with our first decision being to decide what stuffed animal Sam will keep as a baby: a dinosaur, teddy bear, or unicorn? This decision will shape their hobbies and interests in the next chapter as they grow into a child whose room is then Jurassic-themed, pink and glittery, or filled with bounties from their bug-catching expeditions.

Each room has a series of puzzles to uncover by simply interacting with objects and trying out new combinations. We progress the story by finding clues within the room linked to locked boxes filled with the mementos that we’ll be deciding to keep. The player simply has to hover over the golden box, and a glowing vine will point them in the direction of the item they need to interact with to unlock that box. Once the memento has been picked, we’ll be able to unbox a bunch of new items relating to that memento; if we’ve decided to keep the drawing pad over the football, then Sam’s room will be filled with craft supplies and art. Once we’ve covered all of the mementos, we can then choose to move onto the next segment of Sam’s life, or stick around and uncover all of the puzzles. This could range from simply connecting the pieces of a train together or putting all of the marbles in the room into a jar.

Unfortunately, while the puzzle elements of Momento really intrigued me, as this sets it apart from other popular decorating games such as Unpacking, I did find that the game holds our hand way too much in this aspect. It all but blatantly tells you where the key story items are to unlock the memento boxes, and clicking on the hint button for each puzzle highlights all the items that you need to combine or where to place them. I would have much preferred to have been simply pointed in the right direction, rather than straight up being given the answer.

Momento is a short game, with each run taking around two hours depending on how much of a perfectionist you are. But this is because it’s designed for multiple runs, with the game simply continuing to reset and allowing you to pick different mementos rather than hitting the credits straight away. While the story doesn’t stray too far depending on your choices, they do change what rooms you’ll be decorating and also what hobbies, interests, and career Sam will have – with there being 17 different room variations in total. The only problem with this is that these choices don’t change enough of the game to make it worth replaying six times in a row to get all the different endings – especially in the earlier parts of the game where you’ll be replaying the same room over and over again, with the same set of puzzles to solve besides the ones linked to specific mementos. It might be that Momento is a game better played a little bit at a time over a long period, rather than all at once, as this got very tiring after the third replay.

For a game that’s supposed to be cozy and satisfying, I also found that the object snapping isn’t quite there, and will hopefully be improved with future updates, as right now placing smaller objects can be very fiddly. That being said, Momento has some creative set pieces in its late game – so there’s plenty of variation in that sense even if a lot of the same decorations and items get carried over despite your choices. And for players who want to work with a blank canvas, it also has a creative mode.

If you enjoyed Unpacking and are looking for a similar experience, Momento is definitely worth a go. However, if you were hoping that the puzzles and choices would be more significant, then Momento may disappoint; while choices can result in a variety of different rooms to try out, it does mean repeating the same sections multiple times. On top of that, the game seems adamant about not letting the player figure things out for themselves, with its puzzle mechanics holding the player’s hand tightly and not letting go. Momento offers a cozy decorating experience, but it’s likely one best played a bit at a time.

Jess reviewed Momento on PC with a provided review copy. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and our score will not be changed.