Stories Built From Loss
Loss changes how time feels. Some moments stretch endlessly, while others vanish too quickly. Certain games capture that distortion perfectly, using play to reflect mourning, memory, and emotional survival. Rather than offering a win, they invite reflection. Move through this carefully curated lineup to discover how games can express grief in ways that are unexpectedly healing. These have been specially designed to bring you peace.
1. Spiritfarer (2020)
You play as Stella, a ferrymaster gently guiding spirits to the afterlife. Rather than dwelling in darkness, Spiritfarer leans into comfort and kindness. It merges cozy tasks with emotional storytelling as each farewell explores reconciliation and hard-earned peace.
2. What Remains Of Edith Finch (2017)
Instead of one single tragedy, this game unpacks generations of loss within one family. Each short vignette shifts perspective to let memories unfold through environments and details. Here, grief feels personal and deeply tied to how stories are remembered.
3. The Unfinished Swan (2012)
Following a child searching for meaning after loss, the game begins in a completely blank world. As players reveal the environment, visual discovery mirrors emotional exploration, using absence and uncertainty to reflect grief and the slow process of understanding.
4. That Dragon, Cancer (2016)
This intimate experience prioritizes reflection over objectives and is rooted in real parental loss. Players are guided through moments of grief, with real family audio adding an unfiltered, deeply human weight to the mourning it portrays.
5. Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (2013)
From the start, the bond between two brothers is shaped by loss. As the journey unfolds, shared controls reinforce their connection, and when that dynamic shifts, the gameplay itself quietly reflects responsibility and emotional change.
6. Gris (2018)
A wordless platformer, Gris leads players through grief using color and environment as emotional language. Beginning in a gray world, color slowly returns with progress, while art and music carry the story, which lets each stage of grief be felt.
7. God Of War (2018)
God of War centers on Kratos, a Spartan warrior built around profound loss and rage. Developed by Santa Monica Studio, the game frames its god-slaying violence as an extension of unresolved grief, where guilt and mourning fuel his relentless war against mythic forces.
8. RiME (2017)
You play as a young boy exploring a mysterious island, guided by a fox companion. This game is made entirely through symbolism. The journey mirrors the five stages of grief, and its emotional ending recontextualizes everything as a child’s way of processing tragedy.
9. To The Moon (2011)
At its core, To the Moon is about fulfilling a final wish shaped by lifelong regret. By traveling through memories, the game gently unpacks unresolved emotions. It brings remembrance into a story many players still cite as deeply affecting.
10. The Last Of Us Part II (2020)
Ellie’s story unfolds in the aftermath of Joel’s death, as grief hardens into a revenge quest against Abby. Developed by Naughty Dog, the narrative forces players to inhabit both perspectives. It also challenges empathy while exposing how trauma blurs villains and moral certainty.
11. The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000)
Built around a relentless three-day time loop, Majora’s Mask traps players in cycles of loss and impermanence. As side characters quietly confront fear, grief, and mortality, repetition becomes emotion. It turns routine into a haunting reflection on endings.
12. Shadow Of The Colossus (2005)
With no towns or guiding voices, the game isolates you alongside your mission to undo a tragic loss. Each colossal battle deepens moral ambiguity, which forces players to question whether determination is heroic or destructive when grief refuses to release its grip.
13. A Mortician’s Tale (2017)
This narrative-driven experience reframes grief through professional care for the dead. The game normalizes conversations around death by guiding funeral practices with empathy and ritual. This presents mourning as respectful and deeply human rather than something to avoid.
14. Sea Of Solitude (2019)
Developed by Jo-Mei Games and published by EA Originals, Sea of Solitude follows Kay through a flooded city where emotions become towering monsters. Exploration and puzzles externalize anger and isolation by earning praise for its raw honesty and striking visual style.
15. Before Your Eyes (2021)
Before Your Eyes turns something as simple as blinking into a storytelling device, which advances memories you can’t hold onto. As moments slip away, the game reflects how people look back on life after loss.
16. Lost Words: Beyond The Page (2021)
Here, words shape the world in a literal, playable sense. Diary entries appear as floating text, and sentences become platforms you can jump across or rearrange to move forward. This mechanic ties writing to emotional survival.
17. Last Day Of June (2017)
After a sudden loss, the game centers on regret and the urge to change the past. Time manipulation lets players revisit emotional moments, while silent storytelling leans on visuals and music to express sorrow.
18. Aka (2022)
Aka follows a retired warrior seeking peace after war and loss. Gentle tasks like gardening and caregiving contrast lingering trauma, which shows how remembrance becomes an essential step toward healing rather than a distraction from it.
19. Dear Esther (2012)
Grief emerges through quiet monologues heard while wandering a lonely island. As scenes mirror isolation and story fragments change each time, the experience feels like sorting through broken memories that never quite settle after loss.
20. Outer Wilds (2019)
Rather than fighting endings, Outer Wilds invites players to accept them. In this game, curiosity replaces fear, and knowledge carries forward to turn loss into reflection and understanding instead of conquest or control.
