I don’t feel like I can sufficiently express my gratitude for what TGC has managed to create with Sky. I find myself marveling at it on a regular basis, and I’m hardly the target audience: I’m a 42 year old dude.
I grew up on video games like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Brothers, and later Doom, and Quake, and Goldeneye. I played WoW for a time. I have never played a game like Sky; I’ve never played a game that gives me hope like Sky.
When I first started, I had planned on just playing through the main story and avoiding making friends, thinking it’d be weird for a middle aged dude to be making friends with the kids and teens the game seems to appeal to. However, almost two years in, I not only have constellations overflowing with friend stars, I’ve made meaningful connections and friendships with many different players. I am continually blown away by the light and loving kindness they share with one another in the game.
The promise of social media was supposed to be a more connected world but, if anything, it has exploited divisions and exacerbated them. Similarly, other online games are notorious for having toxic cultures. Sky, a “children’s game”, offers the promise of connectedness through kindness and generosity and by and large has cultivated a culture that lives up to that promise.
I cannot thank everyone at TGC enough for your hard work creating and maintaining the game, and I hope that Sky is around for years to come. I have children myself, one of whom is just starting out in Sky, and my hope for them is that they grow up understanding that the key to building a better world is to bring as much light to it as they can, and to protect that light from those who would extinguish it. Sky provides a safe place for children and adults alike to bring their light, and for that I am truly grateful.
