Spiritfarer, one of 2020’s best games, is now on Netflix

There’s so much death in video games. It’s always fleeting, a You DiedScoreboard or screen showing the number of numbers. The deaths are a sign of progress, perseverance and skill. Spiritfarer takes a different approach, looking closely at the finite reality of death — of people and things dying and moving on. It’s equal parts grief and optimism, a playful and sad portrayal of caring for someone who’s leaving this world. It’s among the best games of 2020, and you shouldn’t miss it.

SpiritfarerThis game is no longer available via Xbox Game Pass. However, anyone can access it from their smartphone with a Netflix account. It’s only for Android and iOS devices, and while this may not be the best version of Spiritfarer, it’s still a beautiful game that I think about often, even years after first playing it.

Developer Thunder Lotus describes the game as a “cozy management game about death.” It pulls from classical Greek mythology, specifically the story of the river Styx, the iconic pathway between Earth and the afterlife. Styx’s ferryman is Charon, who brings spirits across the river and into the underworld. Spiritfarer’s story replaces Charon with a young person named Stella and her cat, Daffodil. In their green boat, Stella and Daffodil recruit new friends, build a sprawling home on their boat, and ease their neighbors into the afterlife once it’s their time to move on.

Thunder Lotus Games

This means traveling between the world’s islands to meet spirits who are stuck behind. Once aboard, these recruits become crucial in farming crops, cooking, and building a mobile town composed of stacked rooms — personal quarters for each spirit, but also a garden, chef’s kitchen, and resource grinder. Spiritfarer can be repetitive and slow as you head out into the world to find resources, process them, and attend to your spirits’ needs. These activities serve a purpose. These needs are met with little effort, which adds to the final goal of leading spirits into the afterlife. SpiritfarerBecause of the way its gameplay seamlessly blends with the story, is this a truly special game. Management simulations are not just for fun; every effort is deliberate.

These acts are rewarding because you get to meet each spirit, and also help to bring their stories to an ending. It’s often incredibly sad, and a sense of melancholy is inevitable when you know that the very people you’re taking care of will ultimately leave you. However, the sadness is not as important as the joy and hope that are found in all these stories. Sometimes they’re messy, but always told with care.

Unfortunately, SpiritfarerNetflix’s mobile application has issues such as crashes and inflexible controls. But there’s a solution, at least, for the control problem — use an external controller. It’s better played on a larger screen through an iPad, but phones are just fine. Spiritfarer can be played cooperatively — one player as Stella and the other as Daffodil — on PC and console, but that feature doesn’t extend to the mobile port, perhaps due to the size of the screen.

Over the last few years, management and life simulations have experienced a revival. This is because players are seeking lower-pressure options and a slower pace. There’s no shortage of them. However, SpiritfarerThe company stands out because of how well its management strategy serves the emotional story.