'A Memoir Blue' is a lovely video game exploration of a mother-daughter relationship

A Memoir Blue, over the course of its 90 minutes, wants to lull us into a dreamlike state, to telegraph to us scenes integral to a woman's life and make them feel a bit magical. — Cloisters Interactive/Annapurna Interactive/TNS

A Memoir Blue starts with a phone call. It's a vibrating ring we won't answer, at least not right away, though we can move the cursor to mimic a swipe. In this game, the communication is internal, a dialogue between the player and a character lost in thought. Soon, the young woman we've just met will be drowning in a family room full of water, a house that's been turned into a fishbowl. Grab a boombox, smash the floor, and shortly we're on a train.

Reality is abstracted in the settings of A Memoir Blue. The emotions, however, are grounded.