Game: Undusted: Letters from the Past
Genre: Simulation, Casual, Indie
System: Nintendo Switch (also available on Steam (Windows))
Developer | Publisher: 5minlab Corp. | Toge Productions
Age Rating: US E | EU 3+
Price: US $9.99 | UK £8.50 | EU 9,75
Release Date: October 13, 2025
Review code provided, with many thanks to Toge Productions.
Undusted: Letters from the Past is a short indie game that dives into complex family connections and losses. You pick up items from your mother’s home, cleaning them as you recall why this item was important to your family.
The Story of Undusted
Undusted is a pretty short simulation game where you play as Adora, a young woman who has lost both of her parents. Her father passed away when she was a child, and her mother’s grief caused a rift between them that only widened when she disagreed with Adora’s desire to become a musician.
Adora grew up, moved away, and started a life without her mother. Months after her mother’s passing, Adora is forced to return to her mom’s untouched house to find something for her Aunt Lily. The memories and secrets that Adora uncovers from a thick layer of dust will change how she remembers and thinks about her mother and their connection.
The story of Undusted is bittersweet; the story is beautiful and features a tight-knit family that experiences loss and drifting apart. It’s nice, if a bit heavy, and features a very human story.
The Gameplay of Undusted
The main gameplay loop of Undusted: Letters from the Past is a very linear one. Adora goes through the house, picking up items, cleaning them, and then telling the history of each one. It feels a lot like a visual novel half the time and a cleaning simulation game the other half.
The cleaning was done with several different tools, like a sponge and a toothbrush; you have to pick which tool to use, pick it up, then brush it over the surface of the item. There is a bar on the bottom of the screen to tell you how clean the object is, and there is a hint system that highlights dirt on the object. It’s a pretty relaxing gameplay loop.
I got a Switch copy of Undusted, so I was forced to interact with the game via controllers. I think it would have been better with a mouse and keyboard, but the Switch controls were not too bad. It was a little difficult to be precise with them and get the last bit of dirt off of things.
The Pros and Cons of Undusted: Letters from the Past
There is a lot to like about Undusted: Letters from the Past. It’s a short and sweet game with beautiful graphics, a deep story, and a lot of thoughtful feelings in it. It’s a relaxing game. It’s nice to play, and you really get attached to the characters in a short period of time.
The music, gameplay, visuals, sound design, and everything in it were good. I completed the game wanting to keep going, which is always a good sign.
Luckily, I didn’t come across any weird issues or bugs; Undusted ran very smoothly on the Switch 2. In fact, I can think of a single downside. If I had the choice, I think I would have chosen to play it on PC, but the Switch version worked well enough.
I guess the only con I can think of is that the cleaning was a little difficult to completely finish with the controllers, as mentioned above. I would get to 99.5% clean, and the hint overlay wouldn’t show any specs of unwashed dirt that I could see. I ended up only getting two or three of the objects to 100%, which gives you a special stamp. I assume if you get the special stamp for every level, you get something, so I did have to miss out on that.
Conclusion
Overall, Undusted: Letters from the Past was cute, heartwarming, sad, beautiful, and well worth a playthrough. It might be short, but the length is balanced by a very reasonable price tag.
I enjoyed my time with Undusted, and I will be recommending it to friends who like the same types of games. If you are a fan of emotional visual novels with a little bit of relaxing, meditative cleaning thrown in, you’ll not regret your time with Adora and her family.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up:
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