How can a video game share and preserve ancestral stories and culture?

Kisima Ingitchuna (Never Alone)

Developed by Upper One Games with Ishmael Hope and the Cook Inlet Tribal Council

2015

Video games are valuable learning tools. They immerse us in stories and help us see the world from other points of view. The game “Never Alone” shares cultural insights and lays the groundwork for reconciliation, or repairing relationships between cultures.

In this puzzle platformer game, players follow Nuna, a girl from an Iñupiat village in North Alaska, who is on a quest to save her people from a relentless blizzard.

The game’s eight chapters weave together mythology, traditional art, and interviews with Iñupiat elders to give players insights into Iñupiat principles, such as wildlife coexistence, respect for nature, community sharing, and spiritual connection with the land.

The game was created in collaboration with the Iñupiat community, drawing from their rich heritage and ecological knowledge gathered over generations to ensure a genuine representation of the culture and preservation of their ancestral wisdom.

WEBSITE
Never Alone: www.neveralonegame.com
VIDEOS
CITC Alaska, “Never Alone - The Making of,” 2016
Learn how a tribal nonprofit organization in Anchorage Alaska and its partners created a new precedent for sustainability and self-determination. As told through the lens of the Inupiat people of Arctic Alaska, the global launch of the puzzle-platformer Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa) established a new genre of video games within the industry dubbed World Games, and through an inclusive development process with the Alaska Native people, has set a fresh standard for indigenous storytelling for future generations.
Dead Good PR, “Never Alone - The Power of Video Games,” 2014.
Ron Brower, Sr., an Iñupiat Elder and Cultural Ambassador to the Never Alone project, describes the importance of making a videogame to pass traditional knowledge to the next generation.
Video Game Explain, “The Significance of Never Alone,” 2022.
Explains the origin story of Never Alone and how the authentic vision for the development of this game led to its massive success.