Preloaded Games - The End

In my research I came across very few games which dealt with death aimed at young people. One of the few was called The End by a development company caled Preloaded Games. They aim to create games with purpose and have a lot of games aimed at younger people in an educational way.

The End is a game for younger teens to promote discussion and thought about the subject of death. 
This is how they describe the game on their website (http://preloaded.com/games/theend/)

"The End is a game of self-discovery for teens which integrates strategy, puzzles and philosophical questions into a world which explores death, philosophy and science. The game takes the player on a metaphysical journey, recording their interactions in the world to reveal their attitudes towards mortality. These views are presented alongside their friends and some of the most important thinkers of our time, such as Gandhi, Descartes and Einstein.

Set across three worlds - Mind, Body and Spirit - the player must use a unique shadow ‘n’ light mechanic to solve physics-based puzzles, answer questions and battle the world’s Guardians. The ultimate prizes are the Death Objects, ranging from a memorial diamond to a human heart, which deepen a player’s contextual knowledge of death and help them progress through the game."

I played part of the game to get an idea of what it involved and you start of by creating a character who is then involved in a meteor hitting the earth. You then play out the game as if it was your life flashing before your eyes as the meteor is about to hit the earth. There are very simple mechanics involving puzzle solving and collecting certain items to unlock The End. Along the way to collecting these items the player is presented with philosphical ideas about death in all sorts of ways which encourages the player to make up their own mind about it.

To get a better idea of the game as a whole I read several reviews/articles about it that were linked from the game's website.

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/making-games-is-already-hard-now-make-one-for-kids-about-death/3661/

The following is an excerpt from the review which I found interesting and features quotes from the Preloaded's senior producer Charles Batho.

"It's hard to imagine talking about death without religion. Almost every conversation about death is discussed through the prism of religion and the implication of belief, but giving credence to one belief would have sent Preloaded down a rabbit hole.

"If we had introduced a Christian interpretation of death, then we'd have needed to balance it with the Islamic interpretation, and every other religion, which would have skewed the game and taken it in entirely different direction," said Batho. "So we side stepped religion entirely. What we tried to do with the issues associated with each death object was provide ideas that could emotionally support a person if they had suffered a loss, which is what many religions provide to those who believe in them."

After defeating each stage's "boss," the game asks a question. You answer options are "yes" or "no."

• Is it possible to be happy simply living in the moment?
• Do you want to live forever?
• Would you still be yourself if your mind was put into another body?
• Should people be able to choose how they die?
• Do other people’s memories mean that we live on after death?"

I found the quote talking about religion and interpretation of death very interesting as it is something I have been thinking about for my own studio work. I am very intent on not involving a religious point of view in my own narrative. I think it is very easy to explain death using religion and like the quote in the review says if you include one view point of death you have to include other religions to make it fair.  Like the quote mentions I would rather give an idea that may emotionally support a child no matter what religion they are.

I also was interested to find that after each "boss" stage the player is asked a question, this encourages the player to think for themselves and develop an opinion of their own instead of being given information to follow. It also allows the player to begin thinking about subjects that they would probably have never thought about without a starting point, it promotes philosophical thought and debate amongst teenagers in a way that will be interesting to them.

I think that The End is a very interesting approach to the subject of death and getting young people to think in a philosophical way and it's been very inspiring to me in terms of my own narrative idea.

http://preloaded.com/blog/2012/03/13/ends-answers/