#1 - Inspiration

Note: I'm not dying. 

But there is a theme here. Death can bring things in to focus. It reminds one of life's fragility, and how limited your time is. It reminds you to hug your loved ones. The theme is more of 'doing things before it is actually too late'.  For this project, it serves a few purposes:

As Motivation:

Death is supposed to be the great motivator. I read that somewhere. Death should compel people to work on what is important them, to complete tasks in full, and if one wishes to, aspire to build, share, and be remembered through their work.

I know I'm not the only designer with lots of projects, and at various stages. It would be a shame to pass on with that much work left incomplete or unshared. What was my life's creative works (a few meager tabletop prototypes, I know.) would instead be a bunch of paperwork that my wife throws out, and well, that would be too much of a bummer for how much I enjoyed making them. This thought helped me post my first couple of games. 

As practicing gratitude:

In a way, it is a 'walk of gratitude'. This is one of my employers' mindfulness strategies and normally, I could take it or leave those sorts of things. The idea is to take a walk and think about what you are grateful for, such as a coworker that is helping you, the good weather, or the food you just ate. For this game, it is similar. It is taking stock of what and who I am grateful for, and to remember to be grateful.

Managing Time:

Sometimes it takes us a long time to make a some realizations that might be common to others. This one happened to me a few days ago, when I was browsing my Steam library. I saw a game that was not acclaimed. It was not expensive. It was not particularly well-made. For some reason, the idea clicked in to place that no matter how silly and pointless I felt that game was, as long as there is electricity and the internet as we know it, that game will outlive me. Its lifespan will exceed mine, and it's story more accessible by future generations than my own story or any that I've created. 

In a world where one's time is split a thousand ways, and by ever-competing sources, I'm trying to reclaim my time. You have to make time to create things, and you have to sacrifice time from other categories. A few other of my games are made to not be replayed, or to limit the amount of re-playability. It is not a great commercial move, and  in fact is purposefully against some game design psychology that builds towards addiction. These structures have stolen some time from me, and this is some small way of creating a space of entertainment without imposing that sacrifice that is built to make you not even regret the sacrifice once it is made.

On a lighter note

I'm taking some inspiration from "Talking Puzzles" from my youth- Jigsaw puzzles where you complete blocks of pictures then put them in the appropriate position in the grid, as they relate to what is happening in the other blocks. We had both the apartment building (each block was someone's apartment/window/balcony) and the beach one (people's claimed spots at the beach, with towels, umbrellas, and things happening that happen at the beach).

I hadn't thought about it until now, but I think the blocks were just four pieces, and the jigsaw shapes on the outside of the block must have been universal, as you could put them in any position in the grid. Cool!

As Credits

In theme, I told my wife that I wanted to make a game for her. Maybe corny, I know, but It would have to be a love story. Probably both sad and happy. Either way, a dedication to her, before it is too late, or before leaving without being able to thank her and say goodbye. Her ever- wanted presence. Her patience.  As my last words to her, written in memory, in memoriam.