Last month, one of my close family members passed away. It wasn’t a surprise: he’d reached 90, his health was deteriorating, and we all knew it wouldn’t be long until it happened. But no matter how prepared you are, it’s always a shock – and on the evening I found out, I spent several hours on the shorefront trying to process my grief.
When we describe death, it’s nearly always in negative terms, and loaded with imagery of things like tombstones, skulls and the colour black. Death is the Other we define ourselves against, and even the language we use to describe death (‘passed away’) distances us from the concept.
Most of the time, we just don’t talk about it.
So Spiritfarer – a game filled with bright colours, a house boat and friendly huggable animals – is probably the last place you’d expect to find musings on death. And yet, when I went hands-on with it at Gamescom, I was surprised to find a sincere and comforting approach to a heavy topic.
For those who need a refresh, Spiritfarer is a “cozy management sim about dying” by Thunder Lotus that puts players in the shoes of Stella, who’s just inherited the role of ferrymaster to the deceased. You’re charged with caring for several creatures on your houseboat by farming, cooking and fishing for them – carrying out quests and building their homes – before eventually granting their final wishes and releasing them into the afterlife. It’s a setting with obvious Greek mythological influences, albeit with a more positive message of acceptance and closure. (Rather than, you know, rolling a boulder up a hill forever).