I bought this game because the e-shop described it as a ‘cozy management game about death’. I mean, that’s pretty intriguing. It only took about 350 hours of Animal Crossing for me to realize that I do like simulation and management games.

In Spiritfarer, you play a girl named Stella who commandeers a ship and helps spirits pass on after fulfilling a few of their requests. You fulfill requests by visiting different islands, cooking dishes, building them little homes on your ship and crafting various things, all from resources you gather from said islands. It has a day and night system as well, which means you have to feed your spirits every day or they’ll get hangry. (Yes, spirits eat food. Source: Spirited Away)

The cool thing is next to the option to feed a spirit, you can also hug them. You can hug them once a day and it’ll brighten their mood. Imagine being in a relationship and only getting to hug your significant other once a day. You can bet that hug is gonna last an hour. It’s like when you’re a kid and your mom says you can have one scoop of ice cream so you scoop out the entire container in one go. No harm, no foul. -shrugs-

At the end of their journey when each spirit is about the pass on, the last thing Stella does is hug them. Like many iconic protagonists (*cough* Link), Stella never talks. But even without words, in this last hug, you really feel how much she’s appreciated their time together.

The Life Lesson

It’s hard to console someone. Just because you’re good at giving advice, or good at listening, does not make you good at consoling others during hard times. Why? Every situation, individual, and combination of the two calls for something different. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ answer either. You just have to know the person well and know what they need in that moment. Some people like empathy, while some people want a blunt reality check. I remember a friend once called me out when I was sulking and said ‘Ryan, you are a grown ass man’ and at that time, it was a much needed slap in the face.

Here’s one tip of advice though. If you ever feel that you don’t know how to console someone, a hug almost ALWAYS helps. There’s something magical about a hug. It says ‘even if I don’t understand, I’m here for you’. Also, it just feels nice.

Now, with the world in turmoil, a lot of times we can’t give physical hugs anymore. Virtual hugs aren’t useless. Often, I’ll start by sending over a virtual hug along with a cute anime gif. In these cases, simple words that replace the meaning of a hug also work amazingly—stuff like ‘I’m here for you!’ or ‘I’m listening/I understand’ or ‘let me know if there’s anything I can do to help’.

Obviously, if the other person is mad as hell and it’s because of you… maybe don’t hug them unless you’re trying to die early. You do you.