Games about death improve our lives.
Added 2025-08-01 16:53:01 +0000 UTC
Countless video games depict death, but few ask us to contemplate our mortality. Thank goodness. Mario wouldn’t be nearly as fun if we had to attend every goomba’s funeral.
And yet, as I approach 40 and my death anxieties find new ways to keep me awake, I wonder if video games could be uniquely equipped to help us emotionally grapple with the big question that has no answer: what comes next?
So, I called an expert. Video game writer and narrative director Kaitlin Tremblay has written three games exploring the many sides of death: A Mortician’s Tale, Seasonala Cemetery, and the upcoming Ambrosia Sky.
Don't let the topic fool you. This is an uplifting conversation. And hey, if you're listening to this episode, then I can guarantee one thing: you're alive.
Act 1: A life of making games about death
Act 2: How death in games can help us
Patreon Bonus: Why I keep playing this tiny game about dying
Act 3: News of the Week
Act 1: A life of making games about death
Ambrosia Sky is Metroid Prime meets PowerWash Simulator, which still may sell it short (Polygon)
A Mortician’s Tale (Steam)
Seasonala Cemetery (Steam)
Death in games (Soft Rains Games)
Act 2: How death in games can help us
20 Most Emotional Video Game Deaths, Ranked (CBR)
Death Positivity in Video Games (Gabby DaRienzo)
What video games can tell us about death (Astral Noize)
The Gamification of Death (GDC)
Rest in Play: Exploring Death in Videogames (A Good Death)
Patreon bonus: Why I keep playing this tiny game about dying
Passage (Passage.toolness.org)
What I was trying to do with Passage (Jason Rohrer)
The Video-Game Programmer Saving Our 21st-Century Souls (Esquire)
Act 3: News of the week
August 2025 is the month of remakes and remasters (PCGamer)
What’s wrong with AAA games? The development of the next Battlefield has answers. (ArsTechnica)
Battlefield 6 Reveal Trailer (Battlefield on YouTube)
Inside The Mass Call Campaign To Stop Video Game Censorship (Aftermath)
Demand payment processors stop facilitating rape, incest + child abuse game sales! (Collective Shout)
The chaos and confusion of itch.io and Steam’s abrupt adult game ban (The Verge)
This week in video game links
When Is A Video Game Allowed To Die? (Gamespot)
Hideo Kojima says he won't play the MGS 3 remake, mentions he knows loads of ways to kill people, doesn't elaborate, leaves (PCGamer)
How VTubers Are Leading The Backlash Against Adult Game Censorship (Kotaku)
Time Flies when you're thinking about dying (Polygon)
A cult-favorite series returns after 14 years to Nintendo Switch (Polygon)
Free game of the week: Tanuki: Pon’s Summer demo
“The Tanuki Festival is just a month away, and the shrine is in disrepair. Follow Pon, a well meaning, if a bit lazy Tanuki with a part-time job at the Post Office, as he works to restore the shrine before summer ends. Deliver packages, make friends, and get the shrine ready for the big festival!”
What else I’m enjoying
Let’s Scare Jessica Death 4K UHD + Blu-ray (Vinegar Syndrome)
Shoplifting just to feel something (NYMag)
How I’m Fixing My Broken Attention Span (Vulture)
How MTV Helped Create the Trump-Era Fame Factory (NYTimes)
Two Ways To Film The Same Scene (#2) (Nerdwriter)
Comments
Thank you! I know exactly what you mean. It's always such a cool feeling when you get to interview someone who is willing to really explore the topic and help discover things in realtime
Chris Plante
2025-09-17 17:46:58 +0000 UTCI had a backlog of episodes while doing some gardening and boy did this one stand out. I felt like this was some of your best interviewing yet -- it truly made me feel like I was in the early/mid 00s reading a killer Rolling Stone interview back when those were interesting. But it was better because I could hear the interviewee making connections live with you. Just really awesome stuff. Was a bit surprised not to hear a mention of Six Feet Under haha - great show if anyone hasn't seen it.
Casey Shinn
2025-09-17 15:53:43 +0000 UTCThis is a really sad and beautiful question. First, I'm sorry that you're facing this challenge so early in life. It's one of those moments where you unlock some deep existential knowledge that, at first, you'd rather forget. In terms of games, I recommend That Dragon, Cancer Spiritfarer Journey Before Your Eyes What Comes After People might recommend Edith Finch, but while that game is well made, I think it's approach to death is ineffective. My wife also recommends this profile on Stephen Colbert and grief, which she turned to after losing her best friend. Though you might want to save this for later down the line for when you need it most. https://www.gq.com/story/stephen-colbert-gq-cover-story
Chris Plante
2025-08-30 16:19:02 +0000 UTCAdding this to my reading list!
Chris Plante
2025-08-30 16:09:14 +0000 UTCI've listened to this episode twice now, and I'll probably listen to it again before I write out my thoughts that I've been thinking about death and what it means to be human, but that will come later and be longer and I'll post it on my website that I only have because of what you've said about the importance of having your own space like that. Setting that aside for now, I wanted to ask if you or perhaps Kaitlin Tremblay have any recommendations on games that deal with terminal illness. A friend I've never met in person but have long enjoyed sharing internet space with has stopped chemo, because it wasn't working. They're 37 years old, which is also the age I will be in November. My friend has a year left if they are lucky, according to their oncologist. I've been thinking of death as an impenetrable wall that we know we will all eventually meet, but the mystery of what's beyond the wall is impossible to solve. Anyone can turn the next corner in life and be surprised by that wall, maybe even all of us (a space bus could hit the earth next week), it's impossible to know. It's a more rare human experience to see that wall ahead of you, in the near and very real future. It must be a lonely experience, considering how unhealthy our modern society's relationship with death. I think video games might be the most effective art form to express nuanced human experiences, so I am hoping for recommendations of games from the perspective of the terminally ill as well as the loved ones of those terminally ill. Do you know of any games that tell that story? Thank you so much, I really appreciate you and Post Games.
Rex Riot
2025-08-29 21:09:52 +0000 UTCIf you would like to contemplate death and the funeral industry more, this episode (and the games discussed therein) is a great companion to The Smoke Gets in your Eyes (and Other Lessons from the Crematory) by Caitlin Doughty. It was one of the best books I read last year
Bryce Overcast
2025-08-07 01:56:03 +0000 UTCThis is the best episode yet. Thank you for making this.
Isaac Goff-Mitchell
2025-08-04 19:49:44 +0000 UTC
