RUNONCE captures the love and friendship that can come from a single meeting, never to be repeated again. Only remembered. It is in the powerful good that can exists in those we have not met.
That sensation of instantly connecting with a stranger is incredible. That friendship within a few words that seems to come so naturally at unexpected times. It is like finding out that you knew someone your whole life, but you had somehow forgotten them. RUNONCE distills this feeling by giving you a loving digital friend to speak with, all with the knowledge that they will be gone forever once you walk away from one another.
RUNONCE is a simulated conversation with a cheerful, supportive creature. Once you shut off the program, though, you cannot speak with this creature ever again. You only have the moments, the saved pictures, and the memories of your chat, and then all is gone. This unexpected meeting encourages you to open up to this being, allowing yourself to be vulnerable because you’ll never see them again, but also because this being is so helpful and supportive in what they share with you.
It’s an unexpected experience to be so open with a program, but its language and hopeful nature coax the words from you. And again, it’s that feeling that you deeply care for this person you just met, and that you also have nothing to lose as they will be gone from your life soon – a digital phantom burst back into meaningless clutches of 1’s and 0’s. It’s that feeling of deep connection with someone whose soul speaks to your own, and knowing that connection will break due to geography or time or whatever other reason friendships cannot exist beyond a brief moment in time.
Nathalie Lawhead has bottled this sensation, creating a brief moment where we can keenly feel that pain and love all at once. It’s the kind of connection that lets us finally be candid with ourselves about who we are, and all with the help of a kind stranger, be they real or conjured. And then, they are gone, and the heart aches, but we are still better for it.
That this feeling and connection can come as such a surprise shows us that we need to look at the strangers around us with more compassion and hope – that the people around us may understand us better than we could ever imagine. It may come across as a selfish reason to love those around us, but I don’t think it is. I think it tells us that we all could understand one another better if we allowed ourselves that vulnerability and honesty with those we meet. Maybe this is a dangerous line of thinking as well, but I am hopeful that this openness could bring us all the connections we need to face our own demons, as well as work to help us work together to solve our problems going forward.
For this, a message of hope in coming together emotionally and lifting one another up, RUNONCE is our Game of the Year for 2019.
RUNONCE is available for free (although I hope you will consider a donation) on itch.io.