Remembering Death
If we see life as a journey, then death is our final destination. But, even though it shall happen to everyone, many avoid talking about death. Some also portray death as a taboo topic. Questioning about death sometimes frowns upon and people would concern a lot when you bring up this topic in casual conversations. But, what if death is introduced in a fun way? That’s what games can do. Bringing dark themes lightly.
Many games introduce a certain number of lives to be spent by the players. Mainly represented with the “heart” symbol, players learn that life is finite and every choice should be taken wisely. “Life” as a mechanic is indeed interesting. This kind of game introduces death without telling what death is. They show, don’t tell.
How about the game that mainly uses “tell”? How about games that don’t have “dying mechanics”? What will cozy and narrative games do? Surprisingly, it is even more interesting. In this type of game, topics about death will become deeper and weave into the story even more. It would drench your tears. It will crush your heart. It will take you to an emotional ride. And this type of game is up my alley.
Deadly Library
I don’t know why, but many of my purchased games in my steam library talked about this topic blatantly. Here’s some of my collection.
To The Moon. This game talks about what if we can journey deep into our minds before we kick the bucket and change our memories to make a perfect ending at the end of our life. This game teaches us how to let go and face our regrets.
There’s also a game called How to Say Goodbye. This game’s main mechanic is sliding objects from one place to another, but it somehow could bring up the topic of grieving and letting our loved ones go.
Before Your Eyes is much-much-more “scarier” than the rest. It talked about someone who is trying to have their journey into an abstract “final place” for their resting place. This game teaches us how to accept life.
Game Is Medium
Game is a powerful medium to bring a story and put someone into another shoes. And talking about death, the game is a perfect vehicle to be. It’s humbling. And what is “humble”?
Yes, humble persons are someone who remembers their demise. Care to become one?
