Finding lost treasures in this mesmerizing indie game unlocks stories of childlike wonder, and I've never experienced anything like it

There's a peaceful, melancholic beauty about Miniatures. Hand drawn and featuring unique interactive mechanics, Other Tales Interactive's collection of short narrative games asks the player to look back on difficult childhood memories, each blanketed by a layer of magical thinking.

It's hard to call a game that confronts such sensitive themes "fun," necessarily. Therapeutic, trancelike – those are more fitting descriptors. Playing through each of the four vignettes feels a lot like stepping back in time, into shoes far smaller than mine, adopting a perspective on the world that paints over all its cruelties with an unbridled imagination. Miniatures is both cozy and troubling in that regard – albeit deeply cathartic.

Warning: discussion of themes of child neglect and broken homes ahead

Rose tinted

It all starts with a keepsake box. After being dug out of a forgotten attic somewhere, the player unlocks it to find an array of trinkets from days long gone: a seashell, a preserved moth, a screwdriver, and a lizard figurine. The lizard catches my attention first, with its flickering pink tongue and reptilian yellow eyes gazing expectantly at me, so I hover my Switch cursor over it and begin.

Each item in this box tells a different story, summoning flashes of childhood memories that feel somewhat changed. A little boy, left all alone at home by supposedly absent parents, starts viewing each room through the eyes of his pet lizard. Hugo's enclosure – no, "a paludarium," the little boy corrects his father – is warm and safe, teeming with wildlife and delicious insects to devour. The little boy, in contrast, has a large, empty house as his only solace. He combats this loneliness by turning the experience into a game; he creeps through the house, through imagined shrubbery and interlaced vines, curling up beneath a lamp to bask in its glow much as Hugo bathes under his own. It's bittersweet, but also beautiful, and Other Tales does well to address such delicate themes with a gentle, loving hand.

Perhaps my favorite of the four interactive stories is The Last Sandcastle, found after examining the seashell trinket. Immediately I am transported to a seaside, no longer viewing the character from the outside but occupying their perspective from first person. The sandcastle before me is a grand thing, all turrets and little doorways marked by white clamshells, a narrow moat encircling it, keeping the crustacean inhabitants safe and sound. The gameplay here is more of an interactive, musical puzzle; I click on each front door to see who's at home, or flick sand at the hermit crabs to see what they might do. A little flute falls into the moat, to the horror of a little bipedal fluff ball – I've no idea what else it could be, really – who immediately chases it down to a still pool where another's fishing rod bobs quietly in the shallows.

The more I click, the more I discover that each little creature can play an instrument, and it's my job to help the band get back together. But after a few minutes tick by, the little parade of marine creatures now criss-crossing about the castle playing a jaunty festive tune, a wave crashes over it. It's a sharp, abrasive moment, one that washes away all the joy I'd worked so painstakingly to conjure up. The sense of disappointment is one I can almost taste, and I realize that it's the sadness of a child whose magic spell has been cruelly broken by the harsh realities of life.

That's what Miniatures is about: rediscovering the world through the naive, forgiving eyes of youth. Its themes might be hard for some to tackle, especially given that so many of the experiences feel acutely familiar yet utterly open to interpretation. I don't want to spoil all of Miniatures' wonders – of which there are plenty, I promise – but if you're looking for a healing balm of an indie game to curl up with tonight, here's your sign to uncover something beautiful amid all the broken things.

There's a host of beautiful upcoming indie games to dig into in 2025, and if you're after more recommendations, be sure to check out our Indie Spotlight series.