YouTuber discovers elderly woman who’s been keeping a “dead” virtual world alive for years

YouTuber Redlyne has an ongoing series where he visits video games with almost no players to check them out and see who’s still keeping the servers populated. However, his most touching encounter so far has been with a 78-year-old woman who’s been maintaining her own little virtual world in a dead game for six years.

Sinespace is one of many virtual world RP games. Titles like these give players the tools they need to build their own maps and create characters to live in them, all while interacting with other players and welcoming them into their little slice of life.

Alongside games like Second Life, Active Worlds, and many other legacy virtual space games, it has very few players but maintains a closely-knit community.

Redlyne discovered a user who goes by ArcticRose on a small community map, one that she made herself. She’s been helping run community events in the game and has been keeping her map active for six years. And, while the most people she’s ever had come to an event at once is 12, she treats her little community like family.

YouTuber discovers 78 year-old woman’s beloved virtual world

While video games tend to be perceived as a hobby for younger audiences, it isn’t all that outlandish for older people who are either retired or struggle with mobility to escape into online worlds of their own.

And, while these people may not be playing the biggest or most popular multiplayer games out there, some people find respite in relatively small and unknown titles. For ArcticRose, she created her map six years ago and maintains it, explaining to YouTuber Redlyne that she built it from the ground up.

“This place was flat grass when I bought it from the shop. Everything that’s here, I put here because I like to build,” she explained in voice chat before inviting him back, excited to see a new name in a game that almost never gets any new visitors.

(segment begins at 41:44)

“The events can have anywhere from five people to 12. We haven’t grown that much in six years, we’re kind of a small community. We’re kind of close-knit like a family, but we don’t call each other family so much.”

She then revealed that she’s 78 years old, saying that “any day above ground is a good one.” Despite her community not growing much and not many people seeing her map, she was optimistic and welcoming to Redlyne despite his unconventional custom character.

Not to mention that she built a tidy and well-organized map, which, despite being small, is packed with detail and personality.

Before moving on to the next game in his video Redlyne stressed that, if anyone does opt to hop onto Sinespace and visit her world, they absolutely have to be nice to her and her community, considering just how many people may now know that it exists.

“If any of you try out Sinespace after this, please be nice and friendly. If you’re mean to these people, then you have gravely disappointed me.”

As time has gone on, more and more elderly people have found a new life in video games. One 69-year-old father had a life-changing experience playing through Dark Souls to learn about why video games are so important to his child and daughter-in-law.