10 games to make you think about life

Sorry, a lot of people have made this point before, so I won't go through it again. The real reason MGS2 made me think about life is that I was 14 when I beat it, and I had too much time on my hands to stop and think about what it all meant. I don't want to give it too much credit, though: after all, you spend its final moments slicing up the former president with a samurai sword while he fires rockets at you out of robotic octopus arms.

Metal Gear Solid 5, which has far less story, ultimately to its detriment, also had the same effect. Spoiler-y discussion : A big moment towards the end made me think about how people are mythologised as a result of their actions, and how those people begin to believe in their own myth.

In this case, it's the idea of who Snake is: if everyone around you treats you like a legendary soldier, perhaps you'll begin to believe it. And one day, that might be your downfall. I think you can apply that to a bunch of different things in life.

How much of a person is really the person to begin with, and how much of that sense of self is morphed by the way they're perceived by other people? Anyway, I sat and thought about that for about an hour while drinking chocolate-flavoured beers. Then I wrote this. Sure, plenty of narrative games have given me pause for thought—even Saints Row: The Third had me reflecting on the positive aspects of the friendships I'd cultivated.

But if we're talking about games that really freak my bean, it's Elite: Dangerous. Not so much the stuff you do; as cool as emerging from hyperspace is, there's no deeper meaning there. What gets me is the map screen. There's just It's so big. It's so dense. You just keep scrolling and scrolling and there are just more and more stars and it's only one galaxy in an infinite universe and we're just so small and insignificant and holy shit what even is existence?

And then I somehow manage to reconstruct my tattered sense of perception and finish delivering my cargo of Biowaste to LP Will O'Neill's debut game Actual Sunlight is a sobering narrative adventure that explores themes of social dysfunction, anxiety and suicide. In , four years after my uncle committed suicide, I sought help from my doctor about my own depression and anxiety, and was later referred to a counsellor and put on a course of antidepressant medication.

During this time, I complemented professional help with videogames as a means of escape, not least Actual Sunlight. Since the beginning, games have also been a place to experiment with what it means to be human. So, here are 10 games that tell us a little about what life is — often in a very comforting way. Remember to add your own suggestions in the comments section! Developed by psychologist Peter Favaro, this early simulation title gave the player control over a whole life from infancy to death, via a long series of multiple choice questions.

More of a personality test than a game, it was revolutionary at the time. A version is now available for smartphones. Life lesson: every decision you make is meaningful — especially the ones about getting into cars with strangers.

You collect stuff, do simple chores for your neighbours, and while away the seasons fishing and gardening. It is a game about the joy of community, about the rhythms that bind us to nature, and about comfort. A beautiful game to unwind with. Life lesson: be nice to people and always keep an eye out for the money rock. But instead, this archetypal premise is paired with an ingenious rewind mechanic to explore the fallibility of memory and the subjective sometimes even semi-delusional way we see ourselves and our motivations.

The puzzles are great too. They force a bit of introspection. Why a are you… you? Only by asking these tough questions of yourself can you find out who you really are. How can I be happy? What book influenced you the most? What is your greatest fear? If you had to get rid of one of your five senses sight, touch, sound, taste, feeling which would you choose? These thought-provoking questions are also tough questions to answer.

They make you think about your life and your place in the universe. They border in the realm of philosophical questions. These questions can help you find your place in the universe, or at least force you to think about why you have certain beliefs. If you knew you would die in a year. What things would you accomplish in your final year?

What goals do you have for 20 years? If all of the countries were to merge into a single super country, who should be our ruler? If you could transport yourself to any time and place in the past years. What time and place would you choose? What would you prefer? Being the big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? What are three life lessons you learned the hard way?

What are the three things you are most grateful for? What would you include in your personal mission statement?