A cushioned connection
I am reading The Creative Gene by Hideo Kojima, and in his interview with Gen Hoshino, he explains how he wanted players to be able to create connections with one another.
In Death Stranding players can leave things behind for others who pass through the same place, and other players can respond by leaving “likes”.
The nature of the game makes players feel as though they are walking alone, but with this mechanic, Kojima makes them realize that many others have walked the same path.
Kojima states that, unlike direct face-to-face communication, this kind of “cushioned connection” relies on imagination, prompting players to wonder who else was there and what they were thinking.
This reminded me of Matt Webb's use of PartyKit, , where visitors can see other people’s mouse cursors moving across his website.
I also remember having a similar idea for a photography website that would show silhouettes of others viewing the same photo in real time, breaking the sense of loneliness and treating web pages as places.
