Time Flies: A Brief Meditation on the Meaning of Life in the Form of a Fly Game

Time Flies is a short meditation on the meaning of life. I didn't expect that a small game about a fly could evoke such emotions in me. But after finishing it, I was almost in tears. At first, the game seems very simple and funny. You control a tiny fly that has to complete a series of tasks before its life ends — which happens in just a few seconds. The tasks have humorous titles, such as "Just Relax" or "Meet Your Biggest Fan." The goal of the game is to fly through levels, create little mischief while completing tasks, and finish them to move on to the next level. The last task in each list is usually related to dying. The task names are often punny, and a lot of fun comes from finding objects in the levels and interacting with them. For example, unrolling a toilet paper roll is the task "Just Relax." You "meet your biggest fan" by turning on a fan.

As you fly from place to place, the camera remains distant, and the fly appears as a tiny dot. When you approach an important object, the game zooms in to make it easier to jump onto the roll of paper or pull the fan's chain. This view also indicates that you are interacting with the right object to complete the task. A unique feature of Time Flies is the ability to choose the fly's lifespan based on the country. Using data from the World Health Organization, the game converts real-life life expectancy into seconds. For example, life in the USA is 76.4 seconds, while in Japan, it is longer at 84.5 seconds. Since each run is very short, it's important to appreciate every second. The game offers ways to gain extra time to explore the levels. After a few hours, I learned to quickly complete four levels by tackling tasks from the list and combining them. After that, I finished the game. Over time, some tasks became more personal, although the actions to complete them remained humorous.

Perhaps because I became a father, I started to ponder deeper questions. When I showed the game to my wife — which can be completed in a few minutes — we both got emotional on the couch. Even a tiny fly can live a big life. Now Time Flies is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation.