Games About Death...
...Part One
In my writing, I have a weird obsession with death: every single novel I have started (including those two or three romances I wrote at 16), has death in it, in some capacity.
So it isn’t unexpected (for myself, at least; maybe it is for you, in which case: surprise!) that one of my first gaming posts on this revamped substack is about death. About video games that include the theme death, to be more precise.
And yes, while this is part one — I have a part two half sketched with other games that I haven’t yet had the chance to play — I played every single game on this list. I even completed most of them.
Unrelated to the theme that brings them together, all the games below are worth playing: some will make you cry, some are a bit sadistic, and some treat death in light and fun terms. But they are all really good games (promise! This isn’t a sponsored post, although — I am open for collabs! *wink wink*).
Spiritfarer is a metaphor. In the actual game you play Stella, who sails on a ship collecting resources and completing requests from other characters. When you dissect the metaphor, you realise you’re playing a nurse who is helping patients at the end of their lives with their last wishes.
Yes, of couse you’re going to cry, is that even a question.
More than being a game, Necrobarista is an interactive novel, with an amazing premise and artwork.
One day you find yourself in this weird cafe: it is the place where those who have died get to spend one last day. You meet the characters working behind the bar, but also other characters stopping by the place, and while the game is mostly something you watch, there are some stories to discover.
Felix The Reaper is a puzzle game. You play, as the title so well describes, as a reaper called Felix.
It is you job to make sure humans come into situations that will assure their (planned) death, all this while dancing.
Yes, maybe it is a bit eerie, but the whole game is narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart and has really cool music and artwork.
This is an interactive novel where all you do is talk to people by pressing A. It’s still cute though.
Vivi takes the train home after a long day at work, and falls asleep. When she wakes up, she is on the train to the afterlife. She needs to wait until morning to return to the land of the living.
In the meantime, she chats with the passengers, learns about their lives before death, and finds a new love for her own life.
This game is heavily influenced by Korean Folktales, a platform-type adventure.
You play as Arum, who has entered the realm of the dead in search of her father’s soul, to guide it, but also to figure out the mysteries of his death.
It is also story-driven and you encounter a lot of curious characters along the way.
I love the fact that this whole game is a pun!
It is a platformer-puzzle game, with the peculiarity that you get to switch between worlds as you go through the platforms.
You play as Penny who finds herself being dead and also, being death! Your role is to kill at this temporary job (haha), and also find out the circumstances of your character's death. Putting the fun in funeral all around.
“Reaping souls of the dead and punching a clock might get monotonous but it's honest work for a Crow,” this is how the developers describe the game and I couldn’t do a better job at it, so I stole it from them.
This is a rogue platformer, and it is fun! Rogues are not my favourite — I can only take dying a few times before throwing down the towel — but the graphics are amazing and it’s probably one of the best rogues out there.
Maybe you’ll know it from the beginning, maybe you’ll start realising the role death has on this game as you move through the levels, but this is one of my favourite games.
It’s a beautiful puzzle, that tells a rich story with the help of images, rather than voice narration.
The puzzles are fun and fairly easy, and it reminded me of studio Ghibli. I took so many screenshots of this game!
It’s also often on sale, so get it when you can.
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Have you played any of these games? Let me know in the comments! Part Two will be out soon, but feel free to send more recommendations my way!
Be good, stay chaotic.|
Liefs,
Carina
Note: a similar version of this post was featured on my Instagram.