A Memoir Blue, published by Annapurna, centers a mother and daughter

Shelley Chen isn’t really a swimmer.

Basing instead is the best idea. A Memoir BlueChen received a interactive poem called “The Swimming Champion and Her Mother” in her bath. Chen told Polygon she spent a whole day soaking in the bath — despite the pruney fingers and toes — considering the game’s themes.

“It was a big tub, and I was completely inside with the water pressure pressed up against my chest,” Chen said. “I was pretty stressed out about the story back then, and [the water pressure]The feeling of crying was similar to it. People feel something in their chest when they cry. It is this feeling that I long for. [A Memoir Blue] and the water will be the way to tell the story.”

a woman wearing a yellow sweater in an underwater train

Chen heads Cloisters Interactive in Taichung. This is Cloisters Interactive’s global gaming team. A Memoir Blue, Cloisters describes the 90 minute game as an interactive poetry. All the water is constant in the game. It centers around Miriam, the world’s champion swimmer and her relationship to her mom. A Memoir Blue plays with magical realism, quickly turning an ordinary living room into an underwater journey through Miriam’s memories — memories that mimic some of Chen’s own.

Miriam’s world is flipped underwater after hearing a song from her childhood; the game floats between reality and fantasy, underwater and above it. A Memoir Blue’s imagery flips from 3D Pixar-style animation to 2D classic art from the likes of Disney. The mixed media approach — including an original soundtrack — separates Miriam’s present and past, but the water keeps everything as one.

A Memoir BlueThese memories are shared with the player without much friction. It’s a game, but not in the traditional sense. There’s nothing to win, per se; instead, the mechanics are designed to enhance the story, which plays out more like a short animated film. The middle is between. Cancer, the DragonAnd the newly-released point and click adventure Norco.

2d and 3d art combined in a still of a mother lifting a child onto a boat, a woman watches from the distance

“It’s a very calm game, and most people are looking for something exciting,” Chen said. “I hope [players] get the feeling like they’re reading a short novel or watching a film.”

Clicking and moving a cursor helps push along the narrative, whether that’s clicking a fireworks display of jellyfish that illuminate the sea floor or purchasing a boat ticket — stamping it and depositing it into a ticket box — for the mother and daughter. Currently, A Memoir BlueThis is limited to consoles, such as the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 (both Xbox One and Xbox Series X), and Windows PC. However, these movements may feel more appropriate for a touchscreen. It’s the sort of tactile experience to further immerse a viewer in a story and Miriam’s memories.

It is all about how you look at things. The memory Miriam recalls is based on Chen’s own recollection of a trip with her mother, “the most fun day I had with her,” Chen said, but one that her mother remembered much differently. “I recognized how different a child sees the world compared to how adults see the world,” Chen said. “That really fascinated me.”

a woman on an escalator holding her hand out to a light

Chen, however, saw it as an exciting and momentous trip aboard a boat AndA train. To her mother it was even more sad: her daughter and mother leaving their home to start a new life. It’s clear there’s a deep sadness to A Memoir BlueThe weight of the chest pressing down and the tears coming in close to these moments. Chen and the Cloisters team used this feeling to tell the story without words, too — the only language you’ll hear in A Memoir Bluenot the action but the soundtrack. Otherwise, A Memoir Blue’s story is wordless, using its mix of visuals and magical elements in place of dialogue.

What we’re left with is a short, honest poem of a game that’s both devastating and hopeful. It’s what Chen was going for — something that reminded her of the animated films she loves, like Kunio Kato’s The House of Small Cubes and Michaël Dudok de Wit’s Father and Daughter.

“My mom went through a lot and we were really, really connected,” Chen said. “When I watched these films, they reminded me of her. I wanted to make something about her, make her hardship part of the story that can also bring the same impact for other people.”

A Memoir Blue On March 24, the game was available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (Windows PC), Xbox One (Xbox One), and Xbox Series X. Annapurna Interactive gave a prerelease download code to the game. Vox Media is an affiliate partner. They do not affect editorial content. However, Vox Media might earn commissions for products bought via affiliate links. Find out more. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.

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