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- Self-doubt
I recently played The Artful Escape, a game where you don’t fight enemies or solve puzzles in the traditional sense. You escape into who you really are.
It’s wild and surreal and strangely tender. You fly across psychedelic worlds with a laser guitar slung across your back, carving out an identity not based on what others expect of you, but on what you choose to imagine.
This short game was a breath of fresh air. A delight to play. And at its core, it surprised me with something I didn’t expect: a raw, honest confrontation with self-doubt.
Although the game features numerous beasts and bizarre aliens, the real villain isn’t a monster from another world.
It’s far more familiar.
It’s the voice in Francis’ head that says, “You’re not good enough. You’re not real. You’re just pretending.”
Sound familiar?
That voice shows up in our lives too.
When we hesitate before hitting record.
When we tell ourselves not to share that idea.
When we feel the need to prove something or worse, to be someone we’re not.
Early in the game, a character says:
"You're not Johnson Vendetti. You're a kid. You're not meant to have it all figured out."
And that might be one of the most freeing things an artist can hear.
You don’t have to be fully formed to be worth listening to.
You don’t have to “arrive” to begin.
The Artful Escape reminded me that doubt isn’t the end. It’s probably the beginning.
It’s the sign that you’re standing on the edge of something that matters.
Another character says:
"Promise me you'll play as if your dreams were now memories. And the wonders of reality were all within your reach..."
That line is pretty good.
Because it’s not about pretending. It’s about remembering.
Remembering what you imagined before fear told you to shrink.
Remembering what it felt like to play from a place of wonder, not worry.
And then there’s this line, my favorite in the whole game. I’m paraphrasing, but it goes something like:
“The artist’s job is not to give people what they want. It’s to give them what they never imagined.”
Yes. That’s what makes the fight worth it.
We don’t create to validate others. We create to expand the world (as corny as that sounds).
Even when we’re full of doubt.
Especially then.
If you’re doubting yourself right now, you’re not alone.
You’re not broken.
You’re just standing in front of the door to who you’re becoming.
And maybe the first step through is as simple as this:
Keep going.
Not because you’re sure,
but because you’re curious.
→ Join The Kings Letter +
For the artists still figuring it out.
For the ones who choose to play anyway.
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Take care,
Mislav Brajković
KingsString