What if the games you playedâor could have playedâas a kid could help you better understand who you are now?
Save State is a reflective writing project built around a simple but powerful idea:
Start with a year. Choose a game released in that year. Then write about what was happening in your life at the time.
Itâs a method that blends serendipity with memoryâsometimes I pick a game I knew well, other times I choose one I missed completely. Either way, the goal is the same: to use the media of that moment as a lens for reflection.
đşď¸ The Method
Each entry begins with a randomly selected year and then I find a retro home video game released in that year. Playing it becomes a way of entering memory sideways, with curiosity and care.
From there, the writing unfolds in four parts:
- The Game â what itâs like to play now
- The Year â what life looked and felt like at that time
- The Connection â how the game mirrors or contrasts with the year
- The Reflection â what remains from that time; whatâs changed
Itâs less about nostalgia, and more about personal archaeologyâexcavating meaning from pixels and memory.
đ§ Expanding Beyond Games
The same method works beautifully with other media:
- An album or song from a certain year
- A film you sawâor avoided
- A book or comic that lived on your shelf
- Even a piece of tech you were just starting to use
Each artifact becomes a portal. Not just to a cultural moment, but to who you were inside of it.
đ Try It Yourself
Start with a year. Find a game (or album, film, or book) released during that time. Ask yourself:
Where was I then? What did I want, fear, or believe? How do I see it differently now?
Then writeânot just about the artifact, but about the self it helps you remember.
If youâve ever played an old game and thought, âThis reminds me of how it felt to be 12,ââyou already know what this project is about.
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