So, this might sound ridiculous to some of you, but hear me out. I’m a 48-year-old guy, and I wasn’t expecting to be writing about a video game on Steam, but here we are.
A little over a year ago, I was going through one of the darkest periods of my life. My marriage fell apart after 20 years, and it seemed like everything that I thought I could count on was falling apart. I was working long hours in a job that I didn’t even care about anymore, but had to keep it going because, well, bills. And honestly, I’d gotten into a bad headspace. A combination of depression and just feeling… stuck.
One night, after a particularly bad fight with my ex and some stupid accident with my truck (don’t ask), I decided to do what I always did when I didn’t want to think-play a game. I had been out of gaming for years, mostly since my son moved out and started his life. He was into games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, but that was never really my thing. I wanted something different.
That’s when I stumbled upon "Nettle." I won’t lie, I had no idea what it was. The name sounded weird, the cover art was almost cryptic-there was something oddly beautiful about it, though. The description said something like "A journey of survival through emotional thorns and unspoken worlds." It sounded vague enough to be worth a try.
Let me tell you, I had no idea what I was in for.
The game starts off simple: you’re a nameless traveler in a vast, hostile world, trying to survive after landing. But, there’s something about the way it’s designed. The whole thing feels like a metaphor for life-or maybe it was just me projecting at the time, but the whole journey felt like a parallel to what I was going through. You start out weak, confused, wandering aimlessly, just trying to put one foot in front of the other, hoping for a sign that things will get better.
The mechanics of the game are pretty strange. You’re forced to manage your “mental health” alongside the usual survival stuff-hunger, shelter, resources. There are these moments where you need to stop and breathe, meditate, reflect on what you’ve been through… and it worked.
It was like the game was teaching me how to take care of myself in the way I’d forgotten to. I’m not saying I magically “fixed” my life, but it gave me some perspective. Slowly, the fog of depression lifted-at least for a few hours every day.
Things were still a mess, don’t get me wrong. My truck got totaled after that accident (thankfully no one was hurt), and I had to pick up the pieces of my shattered relationships, but something about the meditative experience of Nettle grounded me in a way nothing else did.
Fast-forward to today, and I’ve managed to get through the worst of it. I’m not out of the woods yet, but I’m doing better. My ex and I have worked out a new kind of relationship (it’s complicated, but we’re civil), I got a better job that I actually enjoy, and I’ve even started reconnecting with my son, who’s been pushing me to try new things, like learning about indie games.
I don’t know if Nettle was the thing that saved me, but it was definitely part of the puzzle. Some of you might think it’s silly, but that game helped me in ways I can’t really explain. It gave me a language for my emotions when I didn’t have one. It was like a reminder that life, no matter how tangled and thorny it feels, can still have moments of beauty and clarity.
Anyway, that’s my story. If you’re going through something hard right now, maybe take a chance on a weird little game like Nettle. It might not change everything, but it could help you start untangling the mess.
I don’t know if I’ll play it again, but I’ll always be thankful for what it did for me in my darkest days.
Thanks for reading.
