After discussing these ideas and a possible theme of the 5 stages of grief being illustrated with character and environmental art with tutors an interesting question was posed about pro-social games that deal with the inevitability that is death "Why do we make games just for he living, and not the dying?"
A simple answer could be that those with a terminal illness would perhaps see there remaining time as highly valuable and may not wish to spend it playing a game when they could be spending that same time with loved ones or enjoying their last moments in special places.
There are stories of individuals who save the ghosts of their deceased friends/family members in a game so they can continue to play with them and conserve the memory of the times hey spent together within said game, but there's a possibility for combing this co-operative play with a game for a person with limited time where they can both play a video game and spend time with a loved one with he purpose of one player helping the other to understand the emotions they may be going through or are yet to encounter during the grieving process.
Imagining a 2 player game where the players are tasked with completing puzzles within environments that are representative of the 5 stages of grief as the player with the terminal illness slowly diminishes in either abilities or appearance or possibly are invisible and control the environment around the other player, like a spirit engaging in the co-operative aspect, also allowing them to leave behind a ghost of their own player so that when they inevitably pass away the surviving player can still reminisce about the last times they played together, utilising the success or failures of other similar games such as "Rime" or "Zelda: Majora's mask" or another game that was suggested to me - "That Dragon, Cancer". All have their own art styles and unique takes on dealing with death and grief and how they attempt to be representative of the grieving process.
Other possible alternatives of games that deal with grief or loss are:
-What Remains of Edith Finch
-Gris
-Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
-Sayonara Wild Hearts
-Spiritfarer
- The Last of Us (franchise)
Similar to the last post that looked at unique ways to interpret themes through de-constructing and re-constructing successful methods from other artists but looking at the apparent 5 stages of grief, as opposed to the 9 circles of hell or mental illnesses, which are as follows:
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
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