Hello everyone!

Thanks for checking out our game, “Goodbye, My Home”! This is actually a story I have had in mind for over a year already, and it’s quite a personal one, too! I wanted to share a bit of the process and the reasons for it with you. So if you’re interested, feel free to stick around!

What inspired me?

Where I live, it’s not uncommon to hear the sentiment that things just aren’t good here, and the desire to move away. I’m pretty sure in high school I was already hearing classmates discuss the idea of emigrating to another country someday. For many reasons, it feels like the country we were born in is stuck in a downward spiral, with no chances to improve, so why stick around? As Agustín says, there’s no opportunities here—or at least, it feels that way.

For the past years, I kept hearing this sentiment. You wouldn’t be surprised to know that quite a bit of what Agustín experienced comes from things I’ve heard from others and even thought of myself. While I studied in film school, I sometimes was filled with a sense of dread that it seemed almost impossible to succeed in that industry in Argentina. I even heard of a former classmate moving abroad after we finished our studies—in fact, he inspired one of the lines in the game.

Even outside of this environment, though, I’d still hear from my other friends of how they’d like to move abroad. One because of her long-distance relationship, another because it’s so much better elsewhere, etc. And while I understand their reasons, it brings to mind a future time where I’ll be left alone, unable to hang out with them as we do now, because they all want to leave.

And you may be wondering, what about me? Do I want to leave? Well, I really don’t. I dread the idea of having to move to an entire new country, having to abandon everything I know. I don’t deal well with change, and that would be something so massive! Just thinking of how I wouldn’t be able to have some of my favorite meals or snacks, how I wouldn’t be able to visit places I so often go to, and especially, how my family would be so, so far away. That’s the part that I struggle with the most… 

Does that sound familiar? Haha! You may notice that this is all really similar to Agustín’s feelings, and that’s definitely intentional. Through him, I was able to express a lot of what weighs me down about the topic. With him I imagined the worst case scenario, actually having no choice but to leave, even though I would rather not. How would I feel in that instance, knowing I wouldn’t get to see my family for so long? Having said goodbye to all of my friends who left before me, knowing nothing would ever be the same? All these thoughts were poured into this character of mine, into this story.

Unlike Agustín, though, I haven’t yet lost all hope. It does sometimes feel like there’s no chance of improvement, but I always keep at least a small degree of hope that things will get better. And even if many leave, maybe I won’t have to, and I will be able to find a way to thrive in my home. If not… well, I will figure that out in time.

The phrase Agustín’s dad said to him is actually a phrase my dad said to me, and reflecting on it is a big part of what inspired this game to begin with. It was a sort of sad irony.

The Making of the Game

For a while I thought O2A2 would be the perfect opportunity to make this concept a reality. As I had imagined it, it was mostly a monologue happening all in the same place, and it was meant to be a very short story, so why not? There were other years I wanted to make it, but for some reason or another, I didn’t. But this year, as I realized the jam was approaching, I thought it was finally time to make it, I didn’t want to wait another year for it! So even though I was in the middle of my main project, I scrambled to make a recruitment document and get people on the team.

Soon enough, I gathered a great team! Some of them I had worked with before, while others I’ve just met, and I’d love to work with them again in the future. I didn’t have everything perfectly defined for this particular project, but through talking with the others it soon began taking shape, to something beyond what I had originally envisioned!

I’m happy to say that everyone on the team was lovely, and I loved working with them and seeing them chat amongst each other and be excited about the game as well. That always makes me even more motivated! Something interesting to me was that many of the team could relate to Agustín’s struggle, and therefore, my struggle. Despite being from all different parts of the world, some of our team members shared their own similar experiences, and how their own unique environments still led to similar feelings of frustration, fear, hopelessness… Despite the sad topic, it was honestly really nice to have these conversations, because I suddenly felt much less alone.

I can only hope that, through playing our game, others in similar situations also feel heard. In fact, I’d love to hear from anyone who related to Agustín, of their experiences with these feelings. And even if the game itself was a bit sad, I do wish everyone is able to keep at least some hope, no matter how little. Because it’s the least we can do to keep going.

If you read everything, I thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed my little rambles as well as the game. No matter where you are or where you’re going, I wish you a great day!