10 years later, there’s still nothing like Journey’s multiplayer

I will never forget the first time I played Journey.

Real-life players can join you on your quest for a mountain. In the last half of my game, I found someone who was with me, even though players can fade in and out of your adventure. Journey does not have a voice or text chat. The only way we could communicate was through our movements. We built a relationship despite the limitations.

As you approach the peak of the mountain, you get caught in a storm as you scale the mountain. The game is filled with sunshine, flight, and joyful music, but the mountain is gray, winds buffet your character, and the music is uncomfortable. Even though the level was draining, I was happy that I had a companion and that we were able to reach the peak together.

You can only hear your footsteps slowly through the elements as the music fades out. My friend collapsed into the snow as the game grew silent. I cried out in shock. The screen faded to white as my character fell over.

You die a lot in video games. I felt like I had lost a friend when I experienced a virtual death.

That is not the end. I was revived after I fell, and then in a celebration of color and music that is perhaps my favorite video game of all time, soared toward the top of the mountain.

I haven't experienced anything like that since Journey turned 10 years old today. I spoke with Jenova Chen, president and creative director of Journey developer thatgamecompany, to learn more about the game. He told me that it wasn't quite that simple, and it may feel like the game is easy to play.

The goal for Journey was to change how people interact with each other on the internet. We want to see two people going through the journey together, like when we meet someone special.

The reality is that human beings are giant babies in the virtual world. A baby doesn't know what a good and a bad moral value are. The baby only knows, if I'm in a new environment, I'm going to try to push the buttons and see what kind of feedback I can get, and babies are great at looking for maximum feedback.

A lot of ideas were tested to encourage compassion. They tried a system that would let you help out a friend who was in a coma, but they found that the player would rather not help the other person. They get more satisfaction from the feedback.

They tested a mechanic where one person could push the other high up, and then the other would pull the first one.

People would say, "I would rather play this game alone." Why do you make me play with someone else? According to Chen, I hate them. Chen said that killing is much bigger feedback than just helping the other person get on a ledge.

The challenges of making those mechanics work affected Chen. He learned from a child psychologist that babies view feedback in a different way.

When you got close to someone, you would get more energy from them. In the final game, you use your energy to fly. That was a simple change. They're all lovey-dovey, they help each other, and they couldn't leave.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

The team had to use musical chirps to communicate with each other. The idea was to push the thumbstick up to show a green ping and then down to show a red ping. The majority of pings were red as players tried to get their partner to do what they wanted.

Chen said it was better to keep it neutral. When we don't add context, people tend to interpret the other person's intentions in a positive way. I think that is deep down our human nature.

The chirp is intended to be neutral, but it isn't. Austin Wintory told me that it is almost like a musical instrument, and its sound changes throughout the game. You will hear more of a human voice over the course of the game.

The humanity in the design of Journey, from the human voice in the chirps to the multiplayer design that encourages cooperation, is so much of what makes the game memorable for me. As I climbed the mountain with my companion the first time I played the game, I realized that I just wanted to help them get up that mountain, even if I was close to my friend.

Before I talked to Chen and Wintory, I played Journey for the first time. I have always worried that another run would change how I feel about the game. I was so afraid of how it would change my memories that I was not going to play it.

The experience was just as powerful as I thought. There are still people playing Journey ten years later. I made a new friend who stayed by my side on the snowy climb to the mountain's summit and on the joyful flight to the peak.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

Journey is available on a number of platforms. Austin Wintory has just released a re-orchestration of the Journey soundtrack performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.