Undertale

When Buster arrived home for the holiday break, he had an idea for me. He knew of a video game that he thought would be the perfect one for the two of us to work our way through together. As is my way, it was a tale of friendship, compassion, and non-competitiveness. As is his way, there would still be puzzles, mazes, and boss battles.

You can play the whole game without killing a single thing, even making friends with them, which comes back to save you in the end. The game has humor and goofy personalities and character arcs that show people finding love and forgiveness and compassion. Buster and I played every couple of nights for some time, and before he went back to school we were able to complete one ending, and then complete the final, final ending. (Yes, there's a twist at "the end.")

I loved getting the time with him, and getting to choose the path forward, with him winning all the battles. It was a great way to connect over break.

To see a little bit of what the game looks like, here's a video of someone else playing it all the way through on the full pacifist playthrough, which is what we did. (This is 9 hours long, so just watch a snippet to get a feel for the game.)

Thanks, Buster. Papyrus and I love you.