While videogames are increasingly recognized as expressive media, their potential to support existential reflection remains underexplored in both game studies and game design. Existing research often focuses on narrative, with limited attention to how procedural rhetoric and environmental design can evoke philosophical reflection. This thesis addresses this gap by investigating how poetic game design, which relies not on conventional fun gameplay but on simple representations, symbolism, and rhythm, can function as a medium for existential reflection.
To explore this question, the project adopts a research-creation methodology. A videogame prototype was developed in Unreal Engine 5, in which the player inhabits the brief life of a mayfly. Born at sunrise and fading away at sunset, the player is invited to explore a world without a specific objective. In this game, player agency becomes part of the meaning-making process, as players choose how to spend their limited time within the world. Players can choose to explore freely or chase the fading sunset. The game aims to evoke moments of philosophical reflection through procedural rhetoric and environmental design.
This research contributes to the field of games as a philosophical medium by presenting a playable prototype and outlining an approach for translating existential themes into interactive systems. It suggests that existential themes can be meaningfully explored not only through narrative but also through procedural rhetoric and environmental design.