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Have you ever had a gaming experience that touches you so deeply that you know you’ll never forget it, and it goes on to live in your mind rent-free, returning to you at the most random moments? I’ve had a few, but the most astonishing one came as a complete surprise, from a source I never expected, Sky: Children of the Light.
Picture the scene: It’s a Saturday night, I’m on Discord with my fiancé, and we’re trying to find something new and fun to play together for a few hours, in a rare moment when neither of us has any work that needs doing. Scrolling through Steam, we come across Children of the Light. I’ve heard good things about it, I’ve just never gotten around to actually playing, and best of all, it’s free.
So, we download it and we dive in.
For clarity’s sake, let me reiterate that this is the first time either of us has played this game. We didn’t check the news section of the Steam page, either, which in hindsight turned out to be a blessing.
The countdown begins
As soon as we’re able to control our characters, we’re thrust into the middle of what appears to be a Roman colosseum. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other player-controlled characters are running around, talking, emoting, exploring, and generally just being together in this small space. It’s chaos incarnate, but with all the bright lights and neon colors, it’s also breathtakingly beautiful, in a strange way.
There’s a countdown at the bottom of the screen, and we have no idea what this countdown is for. We’re completely clueless, but we agree to wait for whatever is coming. Surely nothing bad can happen at the end of an ominous countdown, right?
While we waited, we explored the colosseum. We found various interactive points, including a meditation room, a playground, and even a store where items could be purchased for real money. Of course, we didn’t do that, but it was there. People, real people, other players, were floating (literally, because you can fly in Children of the Light) and walking around us, having their own conversations.
Then, inexplicably to our uninitiated minds, two giant floating glowing balls of light, one red and one blue, started bouncing around the arena. In a true and inarguably completely innocent display of mob mentality, players flocked towards them, including us, and we spent a large chunk of the countdown trying to bounce them into two large rings. Why? I couldn’t tell you, but it was fun nevertheless.
Then, as the countdown reached the five-minute mark, we picked two ‘seats’ next to each other, assigned them to ourselves, and waited for whatever was about to happen.
Enter Aurora
When the countdown ended, the screen went black. For a second, I thought my game had crashed, but then the music started.
Apparently, without any knowledge of such a thing happening, we’d stumbled into a seasonal event during which an interactive concert is held for all players to attend, named Aurora Homecoming. And I’m not ashamed to admit that despite being here against our will and feeling like we’d joined some kind of wholesome cult, I had the time of my life.
I had no idea who Aurora was before we fell into this event, but it’s safe to say that she has earned herself a fan. Somehow, her nature-inspired songs are the perfect soundtrack for this strange yet lovable little MMO, and coupled with the cutesy graphics and immense sense of wonder… It all added together to become an unforgettable experience.
For around 45 minutes, we soared through the skies to the tune of Aurora’s melodic and beautiful music, transformed into butterflies, birds, manta rays, and other bright, glowing creatures. There were so many players along for the ride that, half of the time, I couldn’t tell which one I was, but I felt so absorbed into this shared moment between those who were there, I honestly found that I didn’t care. I felt free.
I’m struggling to find the words to truly explain exactly what we experienced as we were pulled along on this journey, but it definitely was not what we signed up for. The confusion and disbelief that we initially felt quickly fell away, and we found ourselves completely transfixed, even driven to tears at times, covered in goosebumps at this strange feeling of inclusion and community.
Connection through disconnection
Even though nobody was talking, the whole event felt very much like a group experience. What else is a community if not shared memories of moments in time? Forgive me, but MMOs often feel lacking in this type of experience. In short, we need more of whatever the hell this was.
My go-to, FFXIV, has a long list of seasonal events that drive players to a single location to pick up a quest, but once that quest is done, it’s done. I couldn’t tell you the story of the last Little Ladies’ Day event, or what happened during Moonfire Faire three years ago. You go, you do the quest, you get the reward (that you rarely use), and then you leave and forget about it.
At the end of the Aurora interactive concert, a message appeared stating that I’d shared this experience with 3,380 other players, none of whom I’d spoken to or interacted with, but all shared this memory with me. And even though I don’t know who those people are, I now feel somewhat connected to them through having this memory between us.
No faces, no names, no communication, and yet an affinity that I can’t explain. 3,380 people in the same place, doing the same thing, viewing the same thing, together. It was a strangely humbling yet undeniably heartwarming moment to witness.
I’ve written before about my mind’s ability to connect music to gaming moments, and this is a prime example of that phenomenon. Listening to the songs that were part of the experience, I’m now able to vividly picture the visuals that were on screen with every note or bar, and that’s a beautiful thing.
If you want to be thrown into a beautiful and emotional world, or need an escape from reality for a little while, then you can dive into the Aurora Homecoming event until June 22. Sky: Children of the Light is free to download on PC, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, and PlayStation 4 and 5, and it’s only a 3GB download, so you’ve got nothing to lose by (literally) diving in.
