Candles of Friendship

Recently, my current host student introduced me to a game called Sky: Children of the Light, and I say this - hand on my heart - it has become my favourite game. I don't say that lightly - for the longest time, Kingdom Hearts has kept that spot, followed by Death Stranding, and then came Baldur's Gate III, which upended the apple cart.

And now...Sky...wow...

Sky has proven that I still have so much to learn as a gamer.

I was hesitant to play it at first because Sky is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), and I haven't had great experiences with MMORPGs, but - Sky is made by the people who created the game Journey, and I was like...hm...I think I can trust them.

And trust them I could.

Over the past weekend, I have had some truly magical and spectacular in-game experiences where veteran players have taken my avatar's hand and flown me around, bringing me to strange new places, showing me secrets, and helping me find new wings.

On one occasion, I was about to enter a scary, dangerous valley - unknown to me at the time - and a veteran player ran up to me in a frantic rush to warn me of the danger ahead. I didn't understand them. You see, in Sky, we can only communicate through chirps and emotes - so they grabbed my hand and 'showed me the danger' and then I understood. Oh...scary evil monsters of DOOM! Right. Gotcha!

Through a series of emotes, I explained I still had to go forward. I still had a mission.

They took my hand again and charged me through the danger, making sure I was kept completely safe, and then they led me further into the unknown until I could go no more.

And once I could go no further, they flew me around and around, and warned me with emotes - 'do not go into that area yet, do not, level too low, DO NOT GO'

I have had many such wonderful interactions, and it's fascinating that all even though communication is kept simple—chirps and emotes —that, in truth, when you really try, you can say a lot with gestures.

I was discussing these wonderful experiences with my host student, who introduced me to Sky. She had been playing it for a few years now.

"I don't understand, Kylie. No one has taken my hand and taken me anywhere! Why won't they help me like they help you!"

I thought about it...what was I possibly doing differently?

"Well, do you offer or accept candles of friendship?" I asked.

In the world of Sky, candles are a form of currency, but they are also a form of light and life to the avatars. You can offer light to see other avatars, and a candle to become a friend. Otherwise, other online players are just shadows that you see, but you cannot interact with them. (And I really like this concept; it keeps me from feeling overwhelmed by the idea of the game being a MMORPG)

"No, I don't want to waste my candles!"

"Do you help others when they are dying?"

"No! I won't die for someone else!"

"And there, you have discovered why you haven't interacted with any in-game veterans. The game is all about giving. If you hoard all your candles, how can you share your light?"

My host student pouted. "Yeah, but they're MY candles."

Well. I tired.