"Don't cry, it's just a game" Twitter trend makes us all relive heartbreaking moments from Stray, Horizon Forbidden West, Final Fantasy, and more

Stray scene where the cat falls from the pipe
(Image credit: Annapurna Interactive)

A new trend that literally only exists to break all of our hearts is currently doing the rounds on Twitter, and I don't know how many more posts I can handle.

The "don't cry, it's just a game" trend definitely isn't a new thing for Twitter users, but it's suddenly got a new lease of life over the last 24 hours. Fans of all kinds of games have joined in sharing screenshots from games like Stray, TellTale's The Walking Dead, Marvel's Spider-Man, Final Fantasy 7, A Plague Tale: Requiem, and many more. We won't spoil exactly what scenes are being put forward, but if you know, you know. 

My personal favorites include nods to The Last Guardian, Kingdom Hearts, and It Takes Two's elephant scene. If I had to make my own contribution, I'd have to add that scene from Life is Strange when Chloe and Max finally find [spoiler] in the junkyard. I still can't listen to Mountains by Message to Bears (the song that's playing during the scene) without feeling like I've been punched in the gut. I actually rewatched the scene for the purpose of this story and Ashly Burch's performance as Chloe still breaks my heart, even eight years later.

This isn't the first time I've written about a Twitter trend that's taking the gaming community by storm. Back in February, a "10/10 indie game trend" saw several people highlighting their favorite indie games - everything including What Remains of Edith Finch (which should probably also be in this current trend), Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, Night in the Woods, and many, many more. It was a great way to find new games to add to your wishlist. This new trend, however, is just a great way to cry. 

Find out what games could potentially break our hearts in the future with our new games 2023 list. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.