Pieced Together Review

I’m always in the mood for a light puzzler with a heartfelt story, and so I’m glad I got a chance to play Glowfrog Games’ Pieced Together. If you’re a fellow cosy gamer, there’s a good possibility this cute scrapbooking game has come across your radar, too! Let’s see if you should add it to your library. 

Playing Pieced Together brought about so much nostalgia for an era long-lost in my memory, one in which I passed notes to my BFF during class and spent hours talking about adventures our friend group would embark on come adulthood. It’s easy at a young age to feel a sense of certainty about the phrase “friends forever”, as if nothing could tear that bond apart. I’m pretty confident that’s how our two main characters, Connie and Beth, would describe their budding connection as they go through many fun, hilarious, sad, and exciting times in each other’s lives. I loved seeing them grow from 10-year-olds to 30-somethings across my short playthrough. 

Gameplay-wise, we’re playing from the perspective of Connie, as she reflects on her school days after finding a box full of old mementoes. It’s quickly established that many years have passed since she and Beth spoke, but we get to relive their highs and lows by filling in Connie’s scrapbook page by page. 

Every chapter focuses on an impactful time period in Connie’s life, from moving schools to travelling abroad. Pages zoom in on specific moments, such as the day of “The Big Move” featured in Pieced Together’s tutorial. Across all parts, you’ll glue in several sentimental items, such as photos, notes, plane tickets, maps, and more.

Your item tray will house the different clippings, each of which belongs to a memory, and you’ll have to select ones related to the current page’s main moment. Moving, rotating, and sticking items to the scrapbook are done seamlessly by clicking and dragging them around the page, holding down the glue button when you’ve found the perfect spot. 

Though some items can be situated wherever you please early on, as you progress, you’ll have to do some light puzzle-solving to set things in particular spots. For instance, you’ll piece together an illustration or fill in food icons for a recipe, and those items have set places that they’ll need to occupy. 

Filling in Connie’s scrapbook never gets repetitive, as it really feels like we’re sifting through unique moments in her life, and the sentimental mementoes are always changing. The game also adds extra ways to interact with items, such as using a pen to circle answers on a quiz or a brush to clear dirt from a photo. While seemingly small additions, they were lovely touches that didn’t go unnoticed. 

Pieced Together’s puzzles are gentle and enjoyable, as they’re primarily helping you visualise Connie’s life/story rather than giving your brain a tough workout; it’s a stroll down memory lane, not a tiring hike without a map. You’re never rushed, and in fact, you’re encouraged to use the inspect button on items to get extra hints; oftentimes, I used it to appreciate the beautiful art and details. Additionally, there’s a cute little book in the corner that holds many adorable optional stickers to further decorate pages as you please, which I thought was a lovely way to give the player some free-form fun since the game doesn’t have a creative mode outside the main narrative/chapters. 

As I mentioned earlier, Pieced Together really captures two deeply relatable feelings in its narrative and gameplay: finding your partner in crime and growing apart from that same person. Who knew the act of scrapbooking could be so emotional? I’m sure the earnest voice acting for Connie also added to all the feels I had playing through it. 

My only wish is that it had taken one extra chapter to give more closure to the tale, as it felt like it wrapped up pretty quickly once we got the reveal of why Connie and Beth have grown apart.The playthrough took about an hour and a half, and story-wise, it was nearly perfect, but something just felt like it was missing by the time I reached the credits. 

All in all, Pieced Together is an excellent encapsulation of the bittersweet joy that comes with growing older and the deep courage needed to navigate life’s emotional moments. It’s a gentle coming-of-age story full of delightful stickers, light puzzles, and lovely voice acting that I’m sure wholesome/cosy game enjoyers will love!