Some stories hit you from just the right angle at just the right time of your life, and Spiritfarer hit me with assassin-like precision, and now I'm much closer to needing two hands to count the number of video games that have brought me to tears.

A rumination on death disguised as a management sim, Spiritfarer puts you at the helm of an ever-expanding sea vessel charged with carrying souls to... whatever is next after their mortal journey has ended. A dozen or so anthromorphic denizens take up residence on your versatile skiff as they try to address their myraid earthly concerns for their values, their worth, and ultimately their lives.

All resource mainstays are here: fishing, crafting, cooking. The busywork is engaging and forgiving enough to distract from the slow burn of budding relationships and obscure their impending ends.

The game is generous and accommodating. You have to feed your passengers, but failing to do so isn't punished aggressively and can be recovered from swiftly and simply. The game is ultimately a meditation on death and its many paths and iterations. Making a player sweat their dwindling stock of onions would gracelessly undercut its main themes.

Fans of the management sim might find Spiritfarer shallow for the genre, but its broader accessibility means the grace and humanity at the game's core shines so much brighter.