A while ago I came across a fantastic game for writers called Elegy for a Dead World.
It plays like a scrolling platform game, but there is no fighting or obstacles to face. Instead, in each world, players are given the opportunity to write stories about their landscape – the sights, the smells, the sounds – with writing prompts to guide them.
I’ve written a few stories on there now, but I particularly enjoyed creating my most recent one: Dear Marta.
It is the letter from an unnamed girl on a new planet – one with warm weather, beautiful sunsets and starry, starry nights – to her sister back on their home world, Onun.
As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that this isn’t a letter written from the heartache of a short absence. It has been a long time since the girls have been together.
At the end, it is revealed that the narrator’s sister died a long time ago, back when they were children on Onun. The girl remembers their childhood fondly, and promises her sister that she will never forget her, but this will be the last letter she will write.
I love how gently the game prompts you to write your story. The visuals make it a very immersive experience, so you don’t have time to get distracted by other things around you. In this case, I enjoyed the soft, purple world I found myself in, and it wasn’t hard to build a narrative for someone who would have found peace and joy by finding themselves there.
It is fun to imagine how diverse the stories are that must come out of the same game. For me, I was taken in by the atmosphere and colours, but I could have just as easily found myself drawn to the dominating stone golems in the background of many of the shots. How did these creatures find themselves on this planet? Are they just statues, or are they sentient?
What story would you have written, with this beautiful purple planet as your backdrop?
