Social gaming in total lockdown
After the multi-award winning Journey in 2012,1 it was obvious that thatgamecompany had some kind of magic they wanted to share in their games. Journey took the oft-trodden walking simulator and asked “how would this change if you could see other people walking alongside you?” Players could see each other, and communicate via a single sound activated by one button. They could solve puzzles together, and lead inexperienced players onto the right path.
Seven years later in 2019, thatgamecompany releases Sky: Children of the Light2 on iOS. A cutesy art style, social play, and the promise of flight shaped up into an enticing package, but in-app purchases could ruin everything.
As Sky celebrates its second anniversary and its expansion to both Android and Nintendo Switch, how does Sky hold up?
A New Journey
After a brief introduction, Sky: Children of the Light drops you onto a tiny beach, outside a cave. Inside the cave, you’re prompted to light candles, which cause drawings made from Light to appear on the walls to deliver the story of Sky: a great kingdom of Spirits prospers in the Light, only for Darkness to appear and cast them out, leading to the ruins seen in the introduction. The player then leaves the cave through the other side, and into a desert, prompted to head towards the broken staircase from the introduction.
It’s at this point that the game kicks off. Here, the player is encouraged to fly for the first time. As a new player, they don’t have much flight power, but gain more as they progress. On their journey over the desert, they’ll be encouraged to interact with Creatures of Light (butterflies, in this case), and to light more candles. If they haven’t already, here is likely where players will first spot other people flying around and running through the sand. Upon reaching the staircase, the player meets a barrier showing a Staff and “0/1”, and is redirected to another cave to the left where the game’s first Spirit awaits.
This is the core loop of the game: player enters a new area and explores. They’ll often encounter a barrier that bears the current level’s symbol and a number of Spirits they must find, and then the player finds the spirits they need to progress. Each Spirit the player finds shares with them a memory of the past, partially in their poses and surroundings when being chased, and more fully in the cutscenes that play when the player provides the Spirit light from their candle. To thank the player for listening to their memory, the Spirits each teach the player an expression – an emote or gesture the player can use to interact with other players. As the player progresses, they’ll find more Spirits, and therefore more gestures, and be better at communicating with other players as they do.
It takes a village
While Spirit chasing is the main driver of the story, it’s not what pulls me back into the game every few months. That’s where the social interaction comes in. Just like in Journey, players will see each other in the game, and can honk at each other to communicate, but Sky takes this further. Not only can players use the gestures taught by Spirits to interact, there’s a fully fleshed out friendship system, and a neat way of handling in-game text chat.
To avoid the busy and obnoxious chats found in other online multiplayer games, players can only type to others when they’re sitting at designated seats, spread throughout the levels, and only with the others sitting with them. Players have the option to use the friendship system to unlock the ability to chat while not at the special seats, and any friends added via Nintendo Accounts or via QR codes can chat by default (I mean, you already know these people if they can scan a code from your phone screen, right?).
The game encourages players to honk and emote, and lead each other to doors or puzzles that require more than one person to solve. Puzzles that block progression will sometimes be solved by another player while you are engrossed in one of the more involved Spirit quests, and candles you light will provide collectible light for others. Honking will highlight others in the area, and others who are honking will be highlighted for you too. By combining honks and gestures, players can work together to explore picturesque settings, and help each other when stuck.
Better with friends
The other night, while I was doing my daily quests and candle collecting rounds, I ran into someone else doing their daily rounds. After chasing a Spirit, we shared a moment (some honks, playful spinning in circles, gestures) before we worked on some puzzles together. I offered them a Friendship Candle (which costs a Candle, the main in-game currency), allowing us to hold hands and lead each other around more directly. We worked on more puzzles, honked and gestured, celebrating our wins and panic honking when we lost track of each other. At the end of the level, they offered me a Friendship Candle, taking us to the second ‘tier’ of friendship, allowing us to high-five! Teamwork! I cast a spell to create a rainbow at the level’s end, and we celebrated some more before I had to leave the game.
This isn’t an isolated experience, either. I’ve made friends while doing quests, by using the in-game musical instruments to play for and with others, by solving puzzles, and even by hanging out in secret corners. When you offer or accept the first friendship candle, adding the player to your constellation (read: friends list), a box asking you to name your friend pops up, with an option to assign them a random name. You’ll then be able to see when they’re online and join them in the world, or send gifts to each other. There’s a couple of people I hang out with regularly, and I really enjoy my time with them as we honk, and dance, and sing, and play, and fly.
Fleeting Moments
Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “That’s not really friendship, that’s just passing acquaintance with a veneer of friendliness, cooked up by game devs and art designers.”
Well, yeah, obviously you’re right. The thing is, passing acquaintances are important to us in our functioning. It’s little moments of surprise, excitement, or triumph shared with the people just existing in the world around us. The way the customer and barista smile as they thank each other, or the people thanking the bus driver – little interactions, often socially contracted and obligated, that connect us to each other. That’s what Sky offers. Sky asks players to help each other open a door together, and then provides the tools to thank the other person without words. Sky offers you a piano and a drum, and other people can sit and listen to you play, and then applaud while you take a bow.
This game won’t substitute for actual, solid friendships, but it will give you that surface level interaction that can help you feel less isolated. When I first came to the game, I was quite deep in depression. I’d just started reaching out to people again, and I was making friends, but sometimes friends were too much. Sky gave me a way to interact with people, to have a string of kind moments together, in a safe and controlled way. Now in total lockdown, again (it’s July 2021, remember), I have my friends, and I talk to many of them on any given day. What I don’t have is a bus driver to thank, a stranger to pass in the street, and Sky gives me those fleeting interactions. Not to mention, it’s incredibly cute to have a game where I can hug my girlfriend while I can’t see her, then grab her hand and literally soar through the clouds.
So like, should I play?
If you like Walking Simulators, then yes! If you like games that let you fly around, then yes! If you like thatgamecompany’s games, then yes! If you like social gaming, and want a free game to kill time in with some friends, then absolutely yes you should. If you just want some fleeting moments with other people while you’re physically isolated, then yes.
Sky is free to play, with in-app purchases, and has a live-service element to it. The first time you play through the game, however, those elements aren’t in the way in the slightest. You’ll earn candles while you play, and the seasonal events aren’t of use to you, since they require you to revisit levels which isn’t available until you complete the final level. If you decide to keep playing after the end, then the offer of extra currency may be tempting, and seasons do have a season pass that’s required to get some of the cosmetics, but nothing you pay for will make gameplay any easier or give any kind of advantage.
If you hate Games-As-A-Service, then playing the game once may still be of interest to you, but it won’t hold much appeal beyond that. In that case, it’s still free so it might be worth spending a couple of hours on if you feel inclined.
If you abhor in-app purchases, then this might be a miss. Players can purchase the base currency, candles, as well as the seasonal candles used during seasonal events. Both of these currencies are easy to collect in game, though do require you to actively participate in the game. Both currencies can be exchanged for cosmetics, such as different capes or masks, or instruments and tools, and neither is in short supply. The seasonal passes, however, are required for some items. Again, though, none of these really matter on the first run through the game, as much of this is walled off until completing the final level.
The Windup
Sky is a gorgeous game, overflowing with kindness and sincerity. The multiplayer is balanced in such a way that co-operation is encouraged, but not needed to reach the end of the game, and making fleeting friends is easy and rewarding. While its use of games-as-a-service and in-app purchases might not be right for everyone, they don’t detract from a first timer exploring and finding Spirits, and the very act of passing by someone else might be the tiny bit of Light you need during a total lockdown.
