Spread a little kindness.
Kind Words (Full title: "Kind Words — lo fi chill beats to write to") is a game from creator Ziba Scott.
This is not so much a game as it's an anonymous pen-pal system. Kind Words puts you on the receiving end of real letters from real people, airing out hard-to-address issues from the comfort and privacy of a single initial.
You can also send out letters seeking advice, comfort, or just some kind words.
The game released in 2019 and unsurprisingly gained massive popularity during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Kind Words provides examples of:
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: You can get stickers to help decorate your avatar's room. You start off with one; the only way to get the rest is to write encouraging letters and hope people give you them. A May 2020 update added a second sheet of stickers, as well as the option to change your space from red to blue.
- Chain Letter: Quite often, paper airplane notes will start or continue a virtual hug chain. They can get pretty high; triple digits isn't uncommon.
- Endless Game: It's not technically a "game" so much as an endless system of anonymous pen pals (with lightly gamified elements like room decor). That in mind, it never ends.
- Good Feels Good: The game encourages this mindset. The point of the game is to offer advice, support, and words of encouragement to people anonymously. The Mail Deer in particular keeps thanking you and telling you what a good thing you're doing if you send out letters.
- Iyashikei: Kind Words is one approach that game medium could approach this genre.
- Minimalist Cast: The game has a total of two characters: your avatar and the Mail Deer. You never see anything of people who write the letters or the notes.
- Pen Pals: Subverted. Since the letters are sent anonymously, you'll never know if the same person is responding to your letters. That said, the game does encourage you to write the letters anyway, even if you'll never know who's on the other end.
- Serious Business: You're told when you first boot up the game to not take this lightly. These are real issues from real people, and the Mail Deer reminds you of this several times.
- Speaking Simlish: The Mail Deer doesn't actually talk during his dialogue. He only makes nonsensical vocalizations to let you know that he's speaking.
- Therapy Is for the Weak: Averted. The game has a large "Mental Health Resources" button that can be accessed at any time, encouraging people to get therapy or mental health assistance if they feel like they need it.
- Unstoppable Mailman: The Mail Deer says that nothing will stop him from delivering your letter if you send one. If there's a glitch where the letter can't be sent, he vows to send it later.
- Vaporwave: As the title indicates, your writing is set to a lo-fi soundtrack. The mail deer will occasionally notify you when new tracks are added.
- Video Game Caring Potential: The entire purpose of the game. It's sending anonymous good vibes and helping real people overcome their problems with words of support and encouragement.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: Subverted. The game's developers have noted
that most would-be trolls wind up using the game to confess the deep pain and loneliness that compels them to act how they do in the first place. That said, it's easy to report abusive messages if need be. The lack of any two-way communication also discourages malicious behavior by denying trolls the satisfaction of seeing their targets' reactions. - What You Are in the Dark: The letters are sent and received anonymously. You'll never know who the person on the other end of the letter is if you respond, and you'll never know who sent you the responses you get to your own letters. All you have to go by is one letter as a signature (letters are signed "A", "B", "C", etc). But people keep sending out the messages anyway, because they want to help.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: A majority of messages end up with this context.
- You Are Not Alone: A common theme in many of the messages, and in the game itself.
