Published Oct 29, 2026, 1:02 PM EDT

Jason Venter is a long-time gamer from beautiful Oregon who has spent much of his life inside playing games or writing. He contributes to Polygon to share those passions, after previously freelancing at sites like IGN, GameSpot, GamesRadar, and HonestGamers, among others.

A long trail of tears

Image: Nintendo

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Few things can elicit a good cry like a sad video game. And Roger… ’s gut-punch portrayal of living with dementia. Spiritfarer ’s calming meditation on life, death, and the passage between. The Ori duology ’s devastating tale about the lengths we’ll go to protect each other in a toxic, uncaring world, no matter how poisonous circumstances get.

Maybe a good cry isn’t always the reason we play games, but it springs upon us nevertheless.…