A Cozy Management Game About Dying

August 27, 2020 11:18 AM

Natalie Flores on Spiritfarer, a heartbreaking and heartwarming meditation on life where the player becomes “a ferry master to the deceased whose job is to help them pass on to the afterlife. By caring for them and helping them fulfill their wishes, you allow the spirits to wrap up the loose ends in their lives that otherwise keep them from achieving peace.”

Spiritfarer is on Windows, Mac, and Linux (via Steam) and PS4, Switch, and Xbox (including Game Pass).

Previously on Metafilter: And you can hug a deer, a long term ambition of mine

posted by adrianhon (31 comments total)

I'm unlikely to pick it up right now, but this game is high on my list of things I was looking forward to, and feel like it would be helpful in the present moment. It looks both beautiful and meaningful.
posted by Lonnrot at 11:37 AM on August 27, 2020

To add detail to the Games Pass aside, it's also on Games Pass for PC.
posted by Anonymous Function at 11:40 AM on August 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

I've been playing this a lot since I got it last Saturday, and it's such a lovely and absorbing game. But damn, absolutely be prepared to cry. This game does not fuck around with some of its emotional beats, and they hit all the harder when set against how cozy and kind the majority of the game is. I feel like the gameplay loop is spend a few hours exploring and crafting and getting resources and doing quests > take spirit to Everdoor > cry > feel sad > start cycle over again.

Also, the music and art are gorgeous, it's a beautifully crafted game. I especially appreciate how much of the game's own mechanics are intertwined with the themes of death, grief, moving on, etc. This isn't a game where the conceit is a facile or superficial overlay to familiar gameplay mechanics; it's foundational to practically all of the game, and it deepens the further you get. That said, it's not a downer, per se. It's all very kind and gentle, and there really is something very soothing and satisfying about a game in which your main goal is to care for others.

A few notes for prospective players: while this can be comfortably played on a PC with nothing more than a keyboard--the controls aren't all that complicated and you can probably manage most of the game one-handed-- there's some platforming involved, which you might find easier to manage with a controller. I'm a little sensitive to motion sickness issues when playing some games, and haven't had any such issues with this one, apart from a teeny bit during some boat animations. There are however multiple sequences involving flashing or strobing lights, and I don't believe there are any accessibility options to turn those off or change them.
posted by yasaman at 11:49 AM on August 27, 2020 [10 favorites]

Absolutely obsessed with this game right now—I told a friend it was like if Stardew Valley was also a Miyazaki film about death. (Although with more jumping than is personally ideal—there are some game objectives I've just had to give up on because I'm not skilled enough at video game jumps.) But I just want to offer the caveat that it's very new and, as such, crashes often. The first crash I encountered was cataclysmic and I had to start the game over. I did start over, which tells you how much I love this game, but be aware you will encounter random software failures and should save a lot.
posted by babelfish at 11:59 AM on August 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

Same as babelfish. I've been hooked on this since Saturday - it's great! But I hit a save-game-destroying bug on Tuesday after ~10 hours. I restarted last night, and it's still fun, but I hope a patch is coming soon.
posted by Fully Completely at 12:07 PM on August 27, 2020

Thank you for this pointer, adrianhon.
posted by doctornemo at 12:14 PM on August 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

I haven't hit any gamebreaking bugs on the Steam version, apart from some temporary weirdness when I tried to use a bluetooth controller and some minigame failures after rebinding keys in a way the game didn't like (protip, do not rebind your keys such that attempting to do the music minigame leads to you hitting the previous button, it ends the minigame), but I do wish the game didn't have multiple ways to lock you out of progression on accident. Apart from the progress you get via upgrades, there's not really a fixed linear progression to the game, and you could potentially put off saying goodbye to spirits indefinitely. This means you could theoretically lock yourself out of completing certain quests if your progression isn't quite what the game expects, i.e., there's one spirit who wants you to invite three people to a dinner, and another that will want you to invite two others to a play. If you don't have enough spirits left on your boat, I guess you're out of luck to complete those quests?
posted by yasaman at 12:25 PM on August 27, 2020

I picked this up on Steam last week, and yeah, it's a wonderful game. Just be aware you're going to get punched in the gut on a periodic basis.

It's also a surprisingly long game... I clocked in at about 26 hours and there was at least one part of the game I didn't complete. Lovely animation, music, and even the platforming feels pretty nice. Some of the management aspect of the game is a bit tedious but you can't really fail at any of the tasks, so whatever. I especially enjoyed the sheer variety of food recipes they fit into the game.

If you have gamebreaking bugs are you on Game Pass? PC Game Pass is truly the worst... I had so many issues with losing saves on multiple games that I canceled it and I'm just going to suck it up and buy games at retail.
posted by selfnoise at 12:29 PM on August 27, 2020

Also, just FYI for anyone and I don't think this is really a spoiler:

You can continue to play the game after triggering the "point of no return". In case you wanted to see the end of the game but were concerned.
posted by selfnoise at 12:40 PM on August 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

... there's some platforming involved...

yasaman- as a non-gamer, what i s”platforming”?
posted by Silvery Fish at 1:00 PM on August 27, 2020

Silvery Fish, platforming is basically jumping and running, gliding, etc., the stuff you can see in the launch trailer at about 1:05 to 1:30. So like your character gets to run around, jumping, climbing, ziplining etc to progress in the game environment. I personally find it somewhat obnoxious to do much platforming on a PC keyboard versus a controller, but in this game, it's not exactly tricky. You're just jumping and gliding around to reach certain areas.
posted by yasaman at 1:10 PM on August 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

If you want to acquire some of the optional later game skills, there's some tricky jumping and timing stuff. But none of that stuff is necessary IIRC to experience the end game.
posted by selfnoise at 1:12 PM on August 27, 2020

From the description, I didn’t expect the graphics to be so cute
posted by Going To Maine at 1:23 PM on August 27, 2020

I haven't progressed terribly far into the game, but I am enjoying it very much. The visual design is just so charming, and most of the mini games are very easy, so you can mostly play and enjoy the animations of Stella hugging her animal friends.
posted by Ipsifendus at 1:30 PM on August 27, 2020

see also: After Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN9sr5wVkik
posted by wmo at 2:00 PM on August 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

If anyone that’s played this has also played Laura Shigihara’s Rakuen, I’d love to know what you thought about this game in comparison.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 2:19 PM on August 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

I haven't picked this up yet, but was intrigued by a YouTube playthrough. There are precious few really good couch co-op games out there, so its definitely on my radar. I'm glad the experience holds up throughout the game. I'll move this to the top of my "to-buy" list.
posted by eisenkrote at 2:38 PM on August 27, 2020

I'm not extremely far into it but I've been recommending it as "more emotional and more calming than Stardew and Animal Crossing." The fishing, for instance, is so much more mellow than I find fishing to be in the other games.

I have been playing it on the switch and have only encountered minor bugs with the display. Nothing game-stopping. I would recommend playing it on a larger screen if possible. I imagine some items would be too small for my particular eyes if I were playing it handheld.
posted by tofu_crouton at 2:40 PM on August 27, 2020

There's also local co-op which allows you to play as the cat.
posted by slimepuppy at 2:45 PM on August 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

It's on Switch!!!!! YAY
posted by Kitchen Witch at 4:32 PM on August 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm 14 hours in and I'm really enjoying it. I have little patience or ability for the platforming bits, and I will admit that I got halfway through a certain dragon-related minigame and then was so abjectly unable to complete it that I quit the game, but when it restarted it just acted like I'd won - and I'm not sure if that's a glitch or just a service to people like me who are terrible at platforming, but either way I appreciated it.

I also REALLY like that they have completely done away with the entire concept of tool management by just giving you a magical orb that turns into the correct tool for every job.

In contrast to Stardew Valley, you play a definite character in this game with existing personality traits and relationships - in that way it's almost more like Disco Elysium, a game with which it does not have a ton else in common. You're not building a character, you're experiencing life AS a character. It's cool.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:08 PM on August 27, 2020

in that way it's almost more like Disco Elysium, a game with which it does not have a ton else in common. You're not building a character, you're experiencing life AS a character. It's cool.

Are you Superstar Charon or Sorry Charon or Communist Charon?
posted by kaibutsu at 5:18 PM on August 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

Both games also have drama concerning unions(really!).
posted by selfnoise at 5:57 PM on August 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

I just got it on Switch and have found it to be gorgeous but glitchy. On more than one occasion the controller has become unresponsive. Often it is entirely unclear how to progress. I want to love it, but it is mostly frustrating.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:30 PM on August 28, 2020

I have little patience or ability for the platforming bits, and I will admit that I got halfway through a certain dragon-related minigame and then was so abjectly unable to complete it that I quit the game, but when it restarted it just acted like I'd won - and I'm not sure if that's a glitch or just a service to people like me who are terrible at platforming, but either way I appreciated it.

Update, I got trapped in a mine because I am terrible at platforming* and when I finally quit in frustration and reloaded, not only was I back on the dock outside, but I still had the resources I'd gathered in the cave before I got trapped. So I'm thinking it's a deliberate choice now. And I LOVE IT.

*I am also using a standard laptop keyboard, and it is definitely not ideal, either for platforming or for freaking log cutting which is the other bane of my existence in this game
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:41 AM on August 29, 2020

I just finished this game. Love it. It hit me with an unexpected gut punch as the credits were rolling. It begins with a memorial list of names and dates. About a dozen, and one was just 18yo, which made me think, Stanley? Are these all based on real people? I mean, they could have left out the smoking, and the two 'shits' I saw in the game and got a broader rating. If Gwen were a chain smoker IRL you could hardly leave that out of the game, right?

Realising that Stanley may have been a real kid left me with a lump in my throat. Very few games have done that!

Some of the passengers were such jerks I only helped them so they would get the fuck off my boat.

I forgot I had french fries in the oven before I sent Stanley through the everdoor. seeing them there made it was a moment.
posted by adept256 at 2:10 PM on August 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

Perhaps others were more observant than me, but a thing I just noticed: once you take a spirit to the Everdoor, then return to your boat, ghostly versions of all the spirits you've already taken back are standing outside their houses and you can hug them ;_______;
posted by yasaman at 9:18 PM on August 29, 2020

I'm four hours in and as expected, got pretty teary-eyed with the first goodbye. (Any game that replaces "time to first kill" with "time to first tears" gets extra kudos from me.)

It's excellent so far and I really hope they keep with the theme of not having an explicit antagonist in place.
posted by slimepuppy at 11:18 AM on August 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

I played this all weekend. I also had a friend join me through Steam Remote Play (where only the host need own the game) and he controlled the cat, Daffodil.

The glide animation for Daffodil is hilarious. My friend spends most of his time just jumping and gliding.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:59 AM on August 31, 2020

Oh god you guys... Stanley.
posted by Fleebnork at 2:30 PM on August 31, 2020 [2 favorites]

I just finished it. I cried at the end. I loved it, and I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for a long time, which is only true of a handful of the games I play. Now I just have to wait for my IRL friends to finish, so we can talk about it without fearing spoilers.

Some of the middle felt grind-y, unnecessarily, when it felt like I was spending most of my time watering plants, harvesting fruit and crops, and shearing sheep, and not talking to companions or exploring islands. But of course I was way overstocked on all of that stuff, and could have ignored it all. Except feeding my sheep, cows, and chickens, of course. I made sure to feed them all the best treats before I saved for the last time and I hope they're taken care of.

I found two game mechanics badly explained in game, that I didn't learn until *way* late in the game when I started reading the wiki. I think I can describe them without spoilers:

• The Bounce ability. You can keep bouncing, if you time it right, to go higher and higher. I thought it was just one bounce, and I know I missed a lot of stuff on islands while waiting for a nonexistant Triple Jump to get unlocked in order to reach that liiiitle bit higher that I often needed.
• Resources that companions help you collect. When someone isn't on the ship anymore, you can go to their cabin to start the collection minigame. There is eventually a cutscene where that is explained, but it only plays when you go to a map location with the resource... and I had given up going to those places after earlier failed attempts, so I didn't see the cutscene.

If you're playing it, then I hope you enjoy it. If it feels grind-y halfway through, it's well worth finishing.
posted by Fully Completely at 11:29 PM on August 31, 2020 [1 favorite]