A Boring Game?

It’s interesting how while gaming still bears a stigma in the eyes of many parents, gaming environments are essential playgrounds where both important new tech is born and tested and where the new generation is practicing critical online communication skills. Gaming environments are precursors to the metaverse. They don’t only teach kids how to physically move and interact with the surroundings and virtual objects, but also how to behave around other people’s avatars. Game environments are where meaningful relationships are born, not because kids of the same age and from the same town are randomly selected to be in the same classroom for 5 days a week, but because out of hundreds of people of different ages and from all over the world, they meet one or two who truly click together, with whom they have this rare chemistry. This is how games can inspire very deep questions about life itself.

Neva first stumbled upon Sky after she googled “fun multiplayer games to play with friends”, an “idiot search”, as she puts it now. She first found it gorgeous but a bit boring and didn’t see what the point was. It was after she started talking to other players in the game and researching on YouTube and Fandom that she realized what Sky was about.

Most games have one big goal that every player is supposed to reach. But Sky: COTL, on the other hand, does not have that. Which is why people often think it’s a boring game and just quit. In reality though, it’s not actually that simple…It’s like asking “what’s the goal of life?” An interesting question for sure, but the truth is that people just decide their own goals. It’s not like everyone is attempting to reach the exact same thing and that’s just what their life is all about, right? So same goes for Sky, there are a bunch of things you can do and it’s about deciding when, how, and with whom, and if you do those things.

– Neva, her face lit up, when talking to me while I was washing up in the kitchen tonight

Soon, Neva will be celebrating one year since she started playing Sky. (It’s also her birthday this weekend, but she never celebrates birthdays). Thanks to Sky, she has experienced very profound personal connections, met her best friend ever and learned a whole bunch about herself. She has also been confronted by a variety of personalities and behaviors, other people’s personal struggles and intricate situations. She has had to learn who to trust and asked big questions about other people’s motives. We have had many deep conversations and I have seen her mature.

In Sky, based on her sharp logic, strong arguments and eloquent dialogue, everyone first thinks she is around 17.