Spiritfarer
SPIRITFARER is a compassionate adventure that finds comfort in death.
The creative director of Spiritfarer, Nicholas Guérin, was at Ubisoft before he joined Thunder Lotus Games. During his time there, he worked on the Assassin’s Creed series, creating scenarios that would let players stab people in the neck in acts of vengeful fun. Wanting to create something nicer, Guérin joined Thunder Lotus to develop a game that approached the topic of death with compassion. Spiritfarer, a life sim about dying, does just that.
You play as Stella, an upbeat ferry master who’s responsible for finding and helping wandering spirits pass on into the afterlife. After inviting the spirits to stay on your boat, you take care of them and make sure they live comfortably. Then, when they decide they’re ready to move on, you take them to a huge, ominous portal called the Everdoor and see their journey through to the end. Sometimes the goodbyes are easy but, more often than not, they are bittersweet farewells to characters you’ve grown to love.
You’re tasked with crafting a personal space for each resident, preparing their preferred foods, and keeping them happy with plenty of hugs. Very much in keeping with the life sim formula, you’ll need to complete little tasks at all the boat’s different stations – cooking, crafting, farming, weaving, smelting, etc.
Running around your boat to different stations, especially when you upgrade your boat a couple of sizes, is always a frenzied platforming spree of spinning, jumping, and gliding. Each station has a mini-game to keep things fun, like timing your weaving to make sure the needle lands on the target, or keeping the temperature in between two dials when you’re smelting. For a mostly peaceful game, there’s always a flurry of activity.
Knowing that the majestic deer Gwen loves a black coffee, I plant the coffee bean seeds, water them until they’re ready to harvest, and then take the beans to the kitchen to make one damn fine cup of joe. She’s happy, I’m happy, and I think maybe this game won’t make me cry after all? I’m very much mistaken.
It’s because of these daily tasks that you get to know the characters closely in such a short amount of time, and as thanks for looking after them, the spirits teach you skills that help out with your chores. Through this exchange, you develop a closeness to each individual, and they begin to open up about their past life. When I give the chirpy frog Atul a bowl of popcorn, he’s ecstatic at first because he loves any food I give him, but then talks about how he misses the movie nights he used to have with his family when he was alive.
The backstories of your passengers are not the usual fluff you might see in community sims like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley. They hit harder because these characters are, well, dead. They reminisce on their old lives, the families they left behind, good times, bad times, and of course, their own deaths. In this way, they are more than just boat passengers – they’re friends, guides, and confidants.
GOOD HEAVENS
In Spiritfarer, no one truly knows what’s on the other side as you enter the elusive doorway. Deciding to go through it is an uneasy choice, but one that Spiritfarer’s characters still ultimately make. Thunder Lotus always wanted Spiritfarer to be a death-positive game, and this is where that point shines the strongest.
When each character left, I found myself thinking of them. Whenever I made a cup of coffee I thought of Gwen. As I played the guitar to help my crops grow, Summer would pop into my mind. When I gathered berries, I would think about Atul’s childlike love of them.
Spiritfarer understands that dying isn’t just about someone not being there anymore, it’s about the ways you think back on them after they’re gone. Thunder Lotus has managed to create a sim that deals with the topics of death and compassion with wonderful balance.
Thunder Lotus always wanted Spiritfarer to be a deathpositive game.