The importance of Carked It! and games about death and dying
Let’s be honest—death isn’t exactly a crowd-pleaser at parties. People tend to shift uncomfortably, glance at their drinks, and mumble something about needing to go grab something to eat. But here’s the thing: death is the one storyline every character gets. No plot armour, no cheat codes. So why don’t we talk about it more?
Well, in a funny kind of way, we do. We just sneak it into places where you might not expect it—like video games, movies, TV shows, even quirky card games at the pub.
Games and entertainment have become unlikely heroes in helping us face our own mortality. Not in a grim reaper, doom-and-gloom way, but in a “Hey, let’s figure out how to deal with this mess together” kind of way.
Why Talk About Death Through Play?
Play is how humans make sense of hard things. Kids play “hospital” when someone’s sick. Adults play “let’s pretend I’ve read the terms and conditions.” Games are our sandbox for big emotions. They’re where we test out ideas, mess up, laugh at the chaos, and try again.
Talking about death through a game or film gives us emotional wiggle room. It’s one thing to say, “Let’s have a conversation about grief and loss”—and quite another to say, “Wanna play a beautifully sad indie game where you’re a spirit guide ferrying the dead to the afterlife?” (Looking at you, Spiritfarer.)
Suddenly it’s not so terrifying. It’s creative. It’s cathartic. And profound.
Death Is the Ultimate Multiplayer Experience
And the thing about death? It’s universal. Cross-cultural. Intergenerational. No subscription needed. Which is why exploring it through games can bring people together.
Families who can’t talk about death around the dinner table might connect over a film where the dog dies and everyone ugly-cries in silence. (You know the one.) Teens might engage more with questions about mortality in a co-op game than in a school assignment. Even AI is getting in on the act—playing therapist, memory-keeper, or weirdly accurate dead grandma chatbot. (That’s a different blog post.)
Entertainment invites us to play with these heavy themes before they crash into our real lives. It helps us practice goodbyes, imagine what legacy means, and sometimes just laugh at the absurdity of it all.
TL;DR?
Talking about death doesn’t have to be morbid. It can be tender, weird, messy, even funny. And games, movies, and stories are some of the safest—and smartest—places to start.
So let’s press start. Let’s play the grief levels. Let’s watch the sad movies. Let’s talk about the end, not as something to fear, but as something to understand.
Because if we’re all going to the same game over screen eventually… we might as well make the story worth telling.
