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Games like A Taste of the Past

Sondering Studio · 2022 · Windows

Steam: 96 % positive of 1,785 reviews, as of Oct 28

What do you do when you lose someone you love? A Taste of the Past is an emotional sidescroller about reconnecting with your Chinese culture while navigating a train to the afterlife. Featuring a wholesome story, cooking minigames, and hope.

24 games that play like A Taste of the Past and 24 that look like it. Closest by gameplay: Venba, Midnight Ramen and MiSide.

Player tags

  • Adventure
  • Interactive Fiction
  • Visual Novel
  • Point & Click
  • Life Sim
  • Walking Simulator
  • Exploration
  • Immersive Sim
Map region: Visual Novels & Dating SimsWatercolour games
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Steam reviews

What players say

Short, emotional story about grief and family that players praise for its art, music and heartfelt writing; nearly all reviewers recommend it.

Many players describe A Taste of the Past as a short, heartfelt story about grief, memory and family, told through a side-scrolling walk along a train and simple cooking mini-games. Players praise the hand-drawn artwork, the calm soundtrack and the way food connects generations and carries memories of people who have died. Several say the story made them cry, and some say it helped them think about their own loss. Complaints are few and mild: some players find the dialogue too polished, one finds a voice performance robotic, and a few wish there were more cooking or a longer runtime. Gameplay is minimal, with mostly walking and short minigames, so players who want more to do should look elsewhere. Recent reviews are as positive as the older helpful ones and focus on the same themes, with several saying they relate to the grief in the story.

Praised

  • Emotional story about grief

    Players say the story about loss, memory and family moved them, and several say it made them cry.

    Many players
  • Hand-drawn art and visuals

    Players praise the cute, soft artwork and beautiful character designs, calling the visuals a highlight.

    Many players
  • Short and easy to finish

    Reviewers note it takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes and works well as a one-sitting game.

    Many players
  • Calm music and sound

    Reviewers say the simple soundtrack and sound design suit the mood and deepen the emotional impact.

    Some players

Criticised

  • Very little gameplay

    Players note mostly walking and a few small minigames, so it is more a story than a game.

    Some players
  • Too short

    Players wish the game were longer or had more cooking content.

    Some players
  • Dialogue and voice acting

    Reviewers find the dialogue too polished or the mother's voice robotic and flat.

    A few players
Who it suits
Players who want a short, quiet story about grief, family and food, and who enjoy visual novels with simple mechanics.
Who should skip it
Players looking for substantial gameplay, challenge or a long campaign should skip it, since it is brief and mostly walking with light minigames.

Summarised by AI from 57 Steam reviews (English, helpful and recent), as of Oct 28, 2026.

Best matches

Plays and looks like A Taste of the Past

These games are close to it by gameplay and by look, so they appear in both lists below.

By gameplay

Plays like A Taste of the Past

Matched from Steam descriptions and player tags. The tags under each game are the ones both games share.

More matches

  1. memories92 % positive of 1,570Shared: Visual Novel · Emotional · Adventure
  2. GIRLS MADE PUDDING95 % positive of 909Shared: Interactive Fiction · Visual Novel · Walking Simulator
  3. Kemono Teatime94 % positive of 1,684Shared: Visual Novel · Immersive Sim · Emotional
  4. Chinese Street Food Legend98 % positive of 601Shared: Visual Novel · Life Sim · Colorful
  5. Florence93 % positive of 14,958Shared: Interactive Fiction · Visual Novel · Point & Click
  6. Arise: A Simple Story90 % positive of 2,763Shared: Exploration · Third Person · Emotional
  7. When The Past Was Around93 % positive of 3,946Shared: Interactive Fiction · Point & Click · Hand-drawn
  8. Emily is Away87 % positive of 32,355Shared: Interactive Fiction · Visual Novel · Text-Based
  9. As Long As You're Here99 % positive of 515Shared: Point & Click · Walking Simulator · Exploration
  10. Know by heart88 % positive of 797Shared: Visual Novel · Point & Click · Third Person
  11. Leila86 % positive of 552Shared: Visual Novel · Point & Click · Hand-drawn
  12. DUET97 % positive of 793Shared: Interactive Fiction · Visual Novel · Point & Click

By look

Looks like A Taste of the Past

Matched from screenshots. Each card shows the screenshot closest to the look of this game.

More matches

  1. The Average Everyday Adventures of Samantha Browne81 % positive of 1,249
  2. Zero-Sum Heart93 % positive of 207
  3. Venba92 % positive of 2,485
  4. Sweet Home94 % positive of 10,467
  5. DUET97 % positive of 793
  6. Firework97 % positive of 41,302
  7. My Sweet! Housemate97 % positive of 407
  8. Room 301 NO.690 % positive of 220
  9. Birth94 % positive of 4,058
  10. Leila86 % positive of 552
  11. Margo94 % positive of 325
  12. 白花 the white flower93 % positive of 313

At a glance

What games like A Taste of the Past have in common

  • The tags they share most often with A Taste of the Past: Visual Novel (15 of 24), Interactive Fiction (11) and Point & Click (7).
  • They came out between 2015 and 2026, 14 of them after A Taste of the Past (2022).
  • Best rated by Steam players: MiSide (97 % positive of 123,039).

How these matches work

Matches come from embeddings of Steam descriptions, player tags and screenshots, computed offline. “Plays like” compares what the games are about and how players tag them; “Looks like” compares their screenshots. The share of positive reviews is based on Steam user reviews.

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