What this game means to me

I wanted to share with you all my thoughts behind the game, my own personal experience, and why this game means so much to me.

I had taken a course in death and bereavement during college and it was one of those classes that helped me learn about emotional processes and how they could be healing. It changed the way that I viewed emotions and especially the grieving process. It helped me process the loss of loved ones and always go back to what I learned in that course. During the course, we learned about different ways of healing from grief, one of those ways is having conversations with our loved ones who have passed away. A letter is a form of communication. 

I wrote letters as a way to process my own experience with grief. I decided to write this out as a game for two reasons. One reason was in case someone needed a way to get started with writing their own letters, and secondly, as a way to help normalize the process of grief and bereavement. We all grieve in our own way, but we don’t have to bottle it up nor do we have to process alone.

Sadly, I recently experienced the loss of someone very special to me. In complete transparency, it has been a bit of a roller coaster going through the stages of grief. Sometimes, as part of the process I have avoided the thoughts and feelings of this loss. After much deliberation, I think that it is time that I face this loss in a gentle way. Writing this game, I thought much of those I have lost and this was a healing process for me. My hope is that this game can be a part of the healing process for someone else as well.

For some indigenous folks and cultures around the world, there is a belief that the veil between the plane of the living and the dead thins or opens for a period of time during a certain time of the year. This game reflects and uses some elements of those beliefs as it’s premise. I ask that you respect that and play with an open heart and mind. If you would like to learn more about these beliefs and practices, there are many articles online that explain these practices and beliefs.

 This game is also an homage to Dia de los Muertos, a time when we celebrate our dearly departed and spend time with them.