Journey by thatgamecompany

“Your game practically changed my life… It was the most fun I had with him since he had been diagnosed… My father passed in the spring of 2012, only a few months after his diagnosis.

Weeks after his death, I could finally return myself to playing video games. I tried to play Journey, and I could barely get past the title screen without breaking down in tears. In my dad’s and in my own experience with Journey, it was about him, and his journey to the ultimate end, and I believe we encountered your game at the most perfect time.

I want to thank you for the for the game that changed my life, the game whose beauty brings tears to my eyes. Journey is quite possibly the best game I have ever played. I continue to play it, always remembering what joy it brought, and the joy it continues to bring.

I am Sophia, I am 15, and your game changed my life for the better.”

Created by thatgamecompany, an indie studio with a handful of employees at the time, Journey is an indie game featuring no dialogue, direction, or goals. It’s easily completable in six hours, yet takes you on a vast trek starting from life to death. The game is simple; explore and unlock the next stage through runed temples.

Yet where the game excels is in emotional design, the three pillars of which are flow, movement, and choice. Katherine Isbister of How Games Move Us detailed that video games are a special medium that requires interaction and elicit strong emotional responses – sometimes negative, sometimes positive. Everything about Journey was designed with emotion in mind – from the color palettes, the smooth physics of movement, even the Grammy-award winning music from Austin Wintory, lent itself to creating an interaction that pushes users to have a “religious experience” by the end.

Jenova wanted to push the boundaries of emotional design in games and started by breaking down what social interaction meant to him, and isolating the interaction one by one – for example, why did social games like World of Warcraft make him feel even more lonely and isolated? He noticed a few key gaming interactions on how players build a connection, two of which are:

• The gradual player empowerment, which lends itself to an easy toxic environment and “flaming”, the act of posting insults with profanity as skill and strength begins to divides its players
• “Are you a boy or girl? How old are you? The answer is always a sad ending.”

One of Jenova’s design goals then was to eliminate age, gender, skill/strength, and other factors that create chasms between players and their interactions (universal design principle of accessibility here) in order to make make gaming a more healthy medium.

The players in Journey don’t interact until about the midway point where a second player (usually farther along or reached “enlightenment”) is suddenly introduced, and lends itself to the second player “guiding” the first unconditionally and uncommitally. At the very end, the players you played with, where you played together in the game, and where they are from in the world are displayed, and you are able to finally connect to these players.

Jenova’s vision was a game that could affect its players to be better people. Even though it’s been almost six years since I’ve played Journey, I still find myself thinking about the game on a near daily basis. Through careful design, Journey is an example of a product that empowers and enriches its users to be compassionate and empathetic to each other while reminding us what it means to be human.

Jenova Chen’s GDC talk is long, but worth it.

Journey artist Matt Nava is less of a speaker, but still interesting to see the visual design process and tech and product requirements changed the game here, and finally the incredible soundtrack here.