When The Past Was Around
Worth it · Narrative · 2020
Steam Deck VerifiedThe verdict
BUY IT.
Worth it at $7.99, a BANGER if it drops to $4.60.
- Length
- 1.7h
- Value
- $4.70/hr
- Reviews
- 95% positive
Watch this gameOne alert when it is worth buying.
Minimum on the Steam store: 1 GB of memory, Direct X 9.0c compatible video card, 2 GB of storage. Runs on Windows, macOS.
When the Past was Around is an adventure point-and-click puzzle game about love, moving on, letting go, and the joy and pain of everything in between.
What drives the score
How to read this
Grades run S to D, read from the buyer's side. ▲ marks a lift, ▼ a drag or a dock, ? an input we do not have, • a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
The value story
The lowest price on record is $4.79, set in September 2023. Its cuts run 40 percent off as a rule. There have been 56 in the 6 years tracked, about 5 weeks apart. The math puts its BANGER price at $4.60. No recorded sale has reached it yet.
Value puts it in the top 3 percent of the games it competes with. It is better reviewed than 97 percent of its genre. Among the games that feel like it, Landlord of the Woods ($0.99, scores 95) beats it on value, while it beats Birth ($10.99, scores 71).
Critics scored it 77. Players sit 18 points higher at 95 percent, which usually means a game that plays better than it reviews.
Of the 497 Steam-purchase reviews this site sampled, 6 come from buyers who refunded the game, sampled from reviews written September 2020 to August 2026. Inside the two-hour refund window, 93 percent of the 1,596 reviews written there were positive, against 95 percent overall, and those are 41 percent of everything written about it.
Valve rates it Steam Deck Verified, and at 1.7 hours it is short enough to finish on one.
The drop-off
89% start to 21% rarestNo achievement in this game marks the ending, so there is no finish rate. The curve runs from the most-unlocked achievement to the rarest, and its shape is where players stop. Steam global achievements
Players
2 players online when we last checked, on Sep 26, 22:47 UTC.
Player counts from the Steam Web API.
What players say
A slow-paced, relaxing, and gentle game; towards the end, it seemed as though the Owl had come back to life, but in reality, he was merely revived within the woman's heart.
A nice and VERY short and simple story. I was hoping for a bit more depth to the story though. Reading the Steam "about this game" section spoils the entire story and you don't really get more depth to the story than that. The puzzles were enjoyable and the art is very pretty. There are cute sweet moments, but the characters don't go through any relationship struggles or life difficulties after meeting, imo, to make...
Grief simulator, point & click game about a widow mourning her dead magical owl husband. It's really lovely, and that was such a disrespectful, yet accurate, way to describe it. Art is gorgeous and you can finish it in a chilled afternoon. Grab it in a sale ⭐⭐⭐
Steam reviews, mixed to match its Steam ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
Cite this score
When The Past Was Around scores 75/100 on the BANG Score (worth it) as of Oct 2, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/1164050/when-the-past-was-aroundReviews set the ceiling, and price against real length moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Sep 26, price as of Oct 1.
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