Aster is on her way to begin her apprenticeship at the Bureau, an organization that helps people dealing with magical problems. After helping an IT employee actually process the incoming help request emails, she notices a whole series of messages from the same person. Since going through the proper channels would take too long and the situation seems urgent, Aster decides to handle it herself. She soon discovers that a mage in a small village needs help. Unfortunately, when he tries to conjure a cup of tea for you, the spell goes horribly wrong and traps the village in a time loop that repeats each day.

The mouse is your main tool, just like in any classic point and click adventure, but the presentation and puzzle design feel much more fluid, and you are unlikely to get stuck. There is no dedicated button to reveal hotspots like in many modern adventures, but it never becomes an issue because each area consists of several single-screen locations. Everything you need is always visible, so there is no pixel hunting or scrolling around large environments.

You still have to move the cursor around to discover hotspots, but they are easy to spot because everything is large and almost every object can be interacted with. Most interactions change the standard cursor into either an eye or a magnifying glass, both of which trigger a comment from Aster. There is also a speech bubble for talking to characters, who sometimes have multiple conversation topics that become grayed out after you discuss them, as well as arrows or doorway icons that let you move between locations.

Not every interaction is necessary for progressing through the story, but they all contribute toward completing your notebook, giving completionists a good reason to examine everything. One section contains fun facts about the characters you meet, and some of these can only be unlocked by interacting with specific objects. For example, turning off the lights reveals that one character is afraid of the dark.

The other collectible is flowers, with one hidden in most scenes. Whenever you find one, Aster sketches it in her notebook. It also ties into the many achievements, which reward you for clicking on everything and experimenting with different interactions. Unfortunately, they are also highly missable. You often get only one chance to unlock them, and if you fail, your only option is to replay the entire game since there is only a single auto save slot.

As for progression, the puzzles are fairly straightforward and never overly complicated. Most involve talking to characters to gather information or using inventory items on the correct hotspots. Using items is simple. You click an item in your inventory to select it, then click where you want to use it.

The most interesting part of solving puzzles comes from the knowledge system. Whenever you learn something important, Aster records it in her notebook. You can then combine different pieces of information to form new conclusions, much like in a detective game. These discoveries unlock new dialogue options or allow you to interact with the world in different ways, making the notebook feel like more than just a quest log.

Some interactions lead to your "death," although that is not really what happens. Instead, the time loop resets and sends you back to the village entrance where everything began. The same thing happens when you reach the end of the day, which occurs after traveling between locations on the map. Each loop starts in the morning. Traveling once advances time to the afternoon, and traveling again moves it to the evening.

The time of day matters because certain hotspots and events are only available at specific times. If you are already at a location, you can also choose which time of day to visit it. The only part that became a little repetitive for me was waking up at the village entrance after every reset, since you have to sit through the same few lines of dialogue each time. Some actions also have to be repeated, although this is softened by the fact that you keep all the knowledge and items you have already obtained, but sometimes you have to go collect them again because they reset each loop.

The time loop mechanic does stretch the game's length because mistakes can force you to end the day early and repeat the loop. Considering the adventure takes place across only a handful of locations, it can sometimes feel longer than it really is. Even so, I found the overall experience enjoyable.

Aster Pebble is a very enjoyable point-and-click adventure with simple inventory puzzles and equally simple deduction board mechanics.

The game has good writing and nice pixel art graphics. The time loop setting is mostly used as a narrative device; thankfully, it doesn't require any tedious repetitions of the same actions, and it actually makes the gameplay more interesting (for instance, when an item needs to be used in two different ways).

There are one or two instances where it's possible to miss a hotspot or it's not clear at which time a certain interaction becomes available, but the game always provides hints in those cases, so eventually it always turned out that I just needed to pay more attention.

The only minor issue with the UI is that, in my opinion, the condensed font with narrow characters and narrow spacing isn't ideal for readability.

This game was in my Steam release calendar recommendations, and I'm so glad I found it there! Aster is smart and funny, and she is a delight to play in this time loop point and click adventure. The story is tightly constructed, which is a great choice for a short game. All the major plot points hit.

There is a lot to like in this game. Beyond the charming pixel art and sound design, I really appreciate the journal UI that helps you track the case. It's very fun to thumb through while thinking about which breadcrumb to follow next.

On a side note, I picked up the cross stitch zine as well because it is such a cool idea. Great cross stitch designs! And what a cool way to appreciate pixel art in a physical medium.