‘I will miss you forever’: Chinese artist memorialises late grandmother in video game

To memorialise the final days he spent with his paternal grandmother, a Chinese artist designed a game for the retro Nintendo Game Boy platform, which drew the attention – and more than a few tears – from commenters online.

The player can interact with objects in the five-minute-long English-language game Grandma by Mr Zhou Yichen, triggering scenes and dialogue with a character in it – his grandmother.

Within the game, the player can eat and chat with her, take her for a walk in a wheelchair, help her bathe, put her to bed, and do other related tasks.

Towards the end of the game, his grandmother says: “Thank you (for taking) care of me during this time. It is time to say goodbye.”

“I will miss you forever, grandma,” the player then replies, holding her hand.

The grandmother character then ascends heavenward.

The game takes place in several rooms and environments, but offers no rewards or “achievements”.

“This game is not for entertainment or recreation, but to remember my grandma and record the time I spent with her, so I designed it completely based on real life,” Mr Zhou, 31, told Chinese news website Upstream News.

As a child, Mr Zhou loved playing games on the Nintendo Game Boy console, and he started to learn how to code and draw for video games at the end of 2019.

“When I first started designing the game in July, I had almost completed 80 per cent of the game content, but I always felt that something was missing,” said the artist, who also goes by the online moniker 1ndividual.

After his grandmother died in October, Mr Zhou figured out the missing piece – his personal thoughts about his grandmother.

After the game’s final scene, the player returns to an empty home in an epilogue. Interacting with objects at this point causes in-game recreations of photos of Mr Zhou’s grandmother to pop up, along with text about memories of her.

Mr Zhou, who is based in Wuhan, Hubei, told Upstream News that he was raised by his grandparents during his formative years, and maintained a close relationship with them even as he grew up.

“After I witnessed the deep love my parents had for their parents, it had a profound impact on me. Therefore, I will also love my family and friends in the same way,” he said.

He was away from his family for about four years as he worked and studied overseas, and due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and could speak to his grandmother only through video calls.

In March 2024, he returned home to live with her and look after her, after he learnt that she was unable to take care of herself after falling down and injuring herself.

She then died due to an illness on Oct 11, he said in an Instagram post dated Nov 23.

Mr Zhou’s parents have also been touched by the move.

“Although I didn’t understand Game Boy or games before, I was very moved to see my mother’s face again in the game console!” said Mr Zhou’s father on Upstream News.

“Such games are very meaningful. My son can apply what he has learnt to real life to commemorate and remember his grandmother. I think it is worth supporting his studies and dreams.”

However, Mr Zhou says his work is still unfinished.

“In fact, there are still many memorable moments that have not been made into the game,” he said, recalling moments where she expressed delight at flavoured soda he offered her, or when he took her to the library where she used to work.

He added that she initially could not remember a lot of things after her fall, but various memories returned gradually when he took her around while taking care of her.

Mr Zhou added: “If there is a chance, I will continue to put this content into the game.”

As an artist who primarily works via exhibitions, Mr Zhou wishes for more people to recognise the integrated mediums of games and art, which are very different from traditional art.

“I have been thinking and experimenting with suitable exhibition methods, and studying how to provide visitors with a good sense of interaction and experience of game art while ensuring the safe operation of game equipment,” he said.

“If there is a chance, I think I will post the electronic version of Grandma on the internet so that interested friends can try it out.”