Sky: Children of the Light is a mobile game in which players explore a kingdom in order to return lost stars to their constellations. Throughout the game, players fly using a cape, which becomes increasingly effective as they find new stars and level up. Players can also unlock additional abilities, such as gestures, musical items, and avatar customization. Collaboration is a central part of the game, and there is a similar system for unlocking abilities within friendships, as players begin with limited communication options that can then be upgraded as the friendship develops. Initially, this means that text chat is only available at specific times and in specific locations, with much of the communication occurring through non-textual gestures.

Taking flight in Sky: Children of the Light

Given this unique system of communication within Sky, I’m interested in exploring the question: How do players form and navigate relationships in the game?

In my time playing, I was able to experience the beginnings of relationship formation firsthand as I initiated several friendships. Friendship in the game works through a formal proposal in which you gift a candle, an item of in-game currency, to another player, that they can accept in order to become friends. I attempted to gift candles to several players, with varying reactions. Two players denied the candles—one ran away after I offered it, and another crossed their arms to signal rejection. I was curious what the motivation was in refusing these candles, as friendship didn’t seem to imply any necessary commitment. One reason I could think of was that, since my lack of avatar customization made me visibly a beginner, they may not have wanted to feel responsible for helping me. In further observation or interviews, I’d be interested in exploring more thoroughly what factors lead people to accept or deny friendship requests.

Most players I gifted candles to did accept them. Sometimes this was the full extent of the interaction, but in one case it was followed by a series of gestures including a high five, which felt to me like a friendly getting-to-know-each-other dance.

Interaction options in the early stages of friendship

One aspect of friendship I found particularly interesting was that, because the game has no usernames, you assign players’ names on your own device after becoming friends with them. In one way, this seems like it could depersonalize the experience—not knowing their “real” name might make them seem like less of an individual, similar to how a non-player character might feel in another game. But I think there are also ways in which it could have the opposite effect, as creating this small aspect of another player’s identity can lead to a level of attachment and allow you to put your own meaning into the friendship. (The game suggests example names, which I mostly used while playing rather than choosing my own.)

My most extensive interaction was with Evaha, who I met in the first social space in the game, an open grassy area. We sat at a bench together, at which we were able to have a text chat for the time that it took a candle to burn. Our conversation was very brief—I learned that they were from China, told them I was in New Jersey, and explained that I was a confused beginner. After this, Evaha offered to hold my hand, and when I accepted, they proceeded to guide me through the world for around two and a half hours. With minimal contributions on my part, they took me around the kingdom, getting me to level 44 by the end of the session.

Evaha takes my hand after a brief chat

While we were not able to chat for the majority of this time—Evaha’s end of the chat log turned into ellipses as soon as we left the bench—I still felt a sense of connection with this player. I was welcomed into their space, and felt excited and almost awestruck when they initially began to fly while holding my hand. We also had several interactions throughout, despite the lack of textual communication. A few times, they let go of my hand temporarily, looking at me (it felt to me expectantly) as I explored the surroundings briefly on my own. Then, after a bit, they would offer me their hand again and resume taking me around the world. Towards the end of my time playing, they began to let go of my hand more regularly and then would run away on their own before returning. Once, they just suddenly vanished and I wondered if it was due to technical issues. My general interpretation of this, though, was that they were encouraging me to take control more. But I had no way to determine if that was actually their intention: I often wondered to what extent my perceptions of Evaha’s actions and gestures were my own and to what extent they were shared. Much in the same way that I gave them a name that they weren’t even aware of, I wondered to what extent we held the same understanding of this friendship.

Evaha and I exploring a dark cavern

I think these non-textual gestures are an interesting aspect of the game to study, but it would likely be helpful to do so in part through text chats: in further participant observation, I would aim to take more advantage of benches and tables, where chat is possible, in order to ask players about how they experience friendship within the game and how they use or interpret different non-textual forms of communication. I’d also be interested in developing the abilities available within friendships, to see how communication changes as more features are unlocked. I think it would be valuable to experience friendships at a variety of different levels, in order to see how they differ based on the different options available for interaction.