Digital Tributes

How developers use their craft to connect with those they love

- Xalavier Nelson Jr

Hacking other players to pieces across maps set in rural Japan, you might see Hanako: Honor & Blade as just another multiplayer combat game. However, what creative director Matt Canei sees – and has infused into every aspect of the game – is a playable representation of his mother’s battle with cancer. The red forces of the Hanako clan represent his mother, and are depicted as possessing areas of cel-shaded beauty. The name ‘Hanako’ even means ‘flower child’, a reference to her love of gardening. Meanwhile, levels belonging to the green samurai of the Yamai clan represent disease and death. “It can be a bit rattling to take my pain and anger and transform it into a game world,” Canei says. “On the flip side, that is balanced by very beautiful scenes that brought me a lot of peace and closure as well.”

While the story behind the game Canei and company are building is touching, the fact that they’re including significant parts of their lives in the experiences they craft is not unique. When you look for personal references in games, it becomes clear that this practice is incredibly common – a critical, humanising, and often invisible factor in the creative process.