Before I Forget is a touching look at the fragility and importance of our memories, told through exploring the home of a woman suffering from dementia.
We often treat memories as one of the few intangible things that we’ll always have. As events pass, souvenirs get lost and relationships fade, but at least we’ll always have our memories. A lot of the time, that’s what is able to pull us through the rough moments in life. In reality, that simply isn’t true. Our memories are never guaranteed. I’ve experienced this first hand as my mental health has caused memories from my childhood and even memories from just a week ago to feel far away and out of my grasp. What do we do when the thing we hold so close to us slowly fades away without our consent? Before I Forget is able to capture those emotions on a scale I didn’t expect, but loved immediately.
Before I Forget from 3 Fold Games is an incredibly beautiful narrative game that follows a cosmologist, Sunita as she navigates her way through her home while struggling with dementia. From the beginning, not much is known about Sunita. Vague notes around her home remind her to find her husband, Dylan, or to buy peaches from the store. As the player, your only job is to wander.
Exploring pockets of her life through items around her house opens up the world and truly introduces you to Sunita. As you move through her house, it isn’t just dark, it’s void of color. Picking up objects can trigger a memory from Sunita’s life, and as you watch or listen to it play out, color slowly returns to her world. While these memories bring color back into Sunita’s life, it’s never fully restored. Regardless of the mementos and sticky note reminders, dementia has permanently altered Sunita’s life and what she’s able to recall.
As music gently fills her home, we get to see the brighter moments of her life. It’s an emotional and vague experience at the beginning. What starts as questioning a sticky note regarding an appointment to forgetting where rooms are in her house, going through this game as Sunita is scary and frustrating but not without its small moments of affection.
Before I Forget isn’t simply a romantic game about memories and dementia. The game slowly shifts and you really start to feel the fear that comes with not knowing. A pivotal moment in the game comes when Sunita is trying to go to a specific room in her home but can’t remember how to get there. As you move through her house, each door takes you back to square one. It’s disorienting and upsetting. All you can do is open doors until it’s too late. Something as simple as remembering where a room in her home is becomes too much.
As a first person narrative, Before I Forget doesn’t become a voyeuristic look at what dementia is like. The game doesn’t make you a loved one or nurse who is watching a woman’s life slowly start to unravel. It’s so easy for games to become trauma simulators that are void of a sense of humanity and genuine emotion. That isn’t the experience you get while playing this title. Playing as Sunita creates moments of joy and love as you read the cards sent from friends on her wedding day, you feel proud as she looks over the accomplishments she’s made in her field, and you feel her sadness when the things she’d rather forget start to come back. I felt so deeply for her struggles throughout the game.
It’s also incredibly important to note that, from her voice, to the memories of her childhood, this game makes it clear Sunita is an Indian woman. The moment that solidified this game as an important one for me was when we’re given a glimpse into Sunita’s childhood. As she looks through a telescope with her aunt, she tells the stories of the constellation Orion and the Big Dipper but as they are told with Indian mythology. It’s the kind of worldbuilding that’s so simple and genuine in its depiction of a non-white protagonist.
Forgetting is hard. We aren’t supposed to forget. Memories are sacred and to lose even the smallest one feels like a defeat, but coming across an old picture or a small note a friend left in a borrowed book is a beautiful moment. Without revealing too much about this hour-long game, it manages to capture love, joy, loss, and fear without ever missing a step or becoming overbearing. This is a strong debut from 3 Fold Games that really sets the bar for short narrative games.
Before I Forget will be made available today on itch.io and Steam.
About The Author
This is a wonderful article and highlights the things that make me love the game too.