🎲 Save State Subroutine: Message to My Past Self

One of my favorite parts of the Save State project is a simple, poetic constraint I’ve added to deepen the reflection:

Each time I explore a game and its release year, I write a message to my past self from that year—limited by chance.

It’s a grounding ritual. A miniature letter sent backward in time. Sometimes urgent. Sometimes cryptic. Sometimes exactly what I needed to hear.

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🕹️ The Prompt:

What would I tell myself in the year this game came out?

Rather than leaving the format open, I roll dice to narrow the scope and focus the message. The rules are simple:

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🎲 The Rules of Time Travel

1. Roll a d100 – This determines how many words you’re allowed in your message. It might be sprawling or spare. Either way, you have to work within the limit.
   Example: I rolled a 21 for Zelda (1987), so I got 21 words—just enough to be sharp, lyrical, and hard-earned.
2. Roll a d4 – This determines when in the year your message is sent:
   • 1 = January 1 — A message to set the tone
   • 2 = July 4 — Midway through the year, often during heat, change, or loneliness
   • 3 = December 31 — A message at the end of the year, filled with hindsight
   • 4 = The game’s release date — A kind of cosmic alignment: media meets memory

The randomness makes it feel like you’ve stumbled upon a signal from the future—your future.

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✍️ Why It Matters

These little letters give me a way to:

• Step back into that year with compassion
• Say the thing I never knew I needed to hear
• Practice emotional clarity, not just narrative
• Keep the Save State entries honest, small, and human

Sometimes, this message becomes the anchor of the entire post. Sometimes it’s a quiet epilogue.

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🧭 Try It Yourself

Next time you revisit an old game (or album or film), ask:

• What would I tell myself that year?
• How many words do I get?
• When in the year is the message sent?

Then write it

You might be surprised how much truth fits in a roll of the dice.