In our very emotional world, loss plays a huge part in everyone’s lives. Whether it’s a loved one’s death or disconnecting from old friends, the feeling that loss gives us is nothing small. When we have these experiences, we tend to immerse ourselves in a form of art that helps us deal with these emotions. Unsurprisingly, video games can be a guiding light in getting us through these grief-stricken moments.
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Video games that deal with loss have the incredible power to impact us. Giving playersa tearful interactive journeythat sticks with them for weeks, it’s no wonder that we can find these types of video games to be so important to us. With that said, here are the wonderfully unforgettable games that deal with loss.
10Lost Words: Beyond The Page
Although Lost Words: Beyond The Page centers around loss, there’s a glimmer of hope underlying its somber central themes. Over the course of the game, we take our time to read a young girl’s journal. As we turn each page, vibrant worlds unfold and make every word come to life.
This emotional journey uses visual storytelling and writing to form a deeply sentimental experience. Throughout each diary entry, we come to know about this young girl and how she used these pages to cope with her grief. And it’s through her words that the game reminds us that we should hold onto the memory of someone rather than the reminder that they’ve passed on.
9Last Day Of June
Last Day of Juneis an intense cinematic experience that is tragically poetic. Sending you on a loving quest to a special spot between the two characters, we’re guided on a short adventure that centers around true love and loss.
Almost every little bit of this game is interactive. Tasking you with achieving events that could save one of the characters' lives, it’s best to take this game bit by bit. It’s a slow yet powerful burn. Making us face the question of how we would desire to spend our last days on Earth, Last Day of June dares us to consider what we’d do to change our fate.
While it only takes 30 minutes to complete,Florencewill stick with you for hours. It tells a relatable and heartfelt story that reminds us to hold onto the good things while we have them in our grasp. In other words, the game graces us with the notion that we should never take the small moments for granted.
Following the story of Florence, a woman in her mid-twenties looking for a new change of pace, who meets Krish, a cello player, Florence’s life changes for the better. Her entire perspective of her life and the world is changed, showcasing that even just one person can impact us forever.
7No Longer Home
From the heartbreaking calmness in No Longer Home, it’s easy to tell how much of an emotional rollercoaster it is from the start. Centering around the idea of letting someone go when the circumstances are out of your control, this game gives us an intimate look into the disconnection between two figures.
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No Longer Home focuses on Bo and Ao, who are pushed into a long-distance relationship. Throughout the two-hour playtime, you’ll explore the two’s apartment first-hand as they slowly come to terms with having to break apart the life that they spent so long creating together.
Completely wrapped in her own world,Gristags along on the journey of a young girl who escapes into a world to deal with her painful reality. Her sorrows surround her and soon transform into a dress that gives her different abilities to steer away from her harsh reality.
But, as the story slowly reveals itself, Gris grows along with it and begins to see her world in a new emotional light. The calm and text-free nature of Gris is part of what makes it so compelling. Letting us explore a detailed world, environmental storytelling is the game’s strongest element.
5What Remains Of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finchplays off of the concept of loss and grief in a rather unique way. As the last living member in her family, Edith Finch tries to uncover why she’s the last remaining Finch alive. Littered with mystery and mesmerizing visuals, everything makes you want to eagerly find out what happened.
Various first-person segments play out as we attempt to learn more about each family member. From death arising from pure curiosity to dying from being lost in thought, every death that we experience first-hand feels oddly special. It gives us a glimpse into their lives, making each experience feel even more emotional than the last.
4Spiritfarer
Helping spirits to pass on is a rewarding feat.Spiritfarerhas you play as Stella, a ferry master that releases the deceased to the other side. Along the way of transporting these spirits, you befriend and care for them before they inevitably reach their peaceful end.
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Spiritfarer dives into the deep blue of guidance toward the light. It provides us with thought-provoking themes, ranging from morality to dealing with illnesses. Overall, this game is a life simulator that encourages you to face the melancholic task of being the last source these figures have before they finally pass on.
3To The Moon
You help two doctors traverse backward through a dying man’s memories in this psychological drama. In order to give this patient his proper dying wish, we’re set with the goal of artificially letting him relive his life one last time. And with his one goal to reach the moon, we want nothing more than to help him.
To The Moonoffers gameplay reminiscent of adventure andclassic RPG games. Having point-and-click mechanics, playing this game is simple. However, emotionally getting through the story will be far from easy. Through-and-through, it’s a short and admirable story about true love and what we would endlessly do for it.
2A Long Goodbye
A Long Goodbye showcases a feeling all too familiar to so many of us. When the protagonist gets in a car wreck on his way to his friend’s farewell party, the two must say goodbye over the phone. Although it takes around ten minutes to complete, the game encourages you to play multiple times to experience all the ins and outs of the dynamic between the two.
In the short-lived phone call, we quickly learn about the impact they had on each other’s lives. And while goodbyes never have to be bad, the tension between the two hints that this outcome was less than favorable.
1That Dragon, Cancer
As an autobiographical farewell and a love letter to a family’s son, That Dragon, Cancer serves as a strong voice for those fighting cancer. With its playtime of around two hours, you’ll get lost in the game’simmersive and poeticgameplay.
Exploring themes of faith and love, this artistic point-and-click surrounds itself with the question of how to hold onto hope when you’re in the face of death. That Dragon, Cancer has been highly praised for being an amazing example of video games as an art form. And it’s through this admiration alone that it’s considered one of the best video games to deal with loss and the rollercoaster of feelings that comes along with it.
