(SPOILERS AHEAD) If you are one of the players who get the deeper meaning of the Lord of the Aisle, congratulations!

I wanted to leave the deeper meaning somewhat subtle and with some room for the player to come to their own conclusion, or for the player to just enjoy the game without the deeper meaning. It may be something only older players can understand though.

Most players just see the game on the surface level, about a grumpy old man blocking an aisle in a supermarket. But here is the behind-the-scenes deeper story, if you’re interested…

Backstory:

Near where I live is a supermarket, and every Tuesday, is Senior Discount Tuesday, and it is packed with old people. These old people are much like the old man in the game, who seem to almost intentionally block the aisle, oblivious to the people trying to get by. I wondered what could be going on in their heads?

Analysis:

This game may actually all take place in the head of the old man. He may or may not be standing in a real supermarket. He may or may not have alzheimers/dementia. But he is old, alone, and doesn’t think that he has much of a future ahead of him. He lives in a vivid inner world, and still has much imagination. He sees himself as being more powerful than he is.

The passers-by are reminiscent or symbolic of people, dreams, hopes, and experiences from the old man’s younger days.

The supermarket aisle itself is the passage of time, the decay of memory.

The products on the aisle are symbolic of material things through the ages (which is why some things look like houses).

He’s clinging on so fiercely to his memories and past. He doesn’t want his younger days and memories to slip by him. Not even one. But in clinging on so tightly to his past, he has put up walls from making new friends, dreams, hopes, and experiences. A fortress of solitude and stubbornness. He is in a prison of his own making. He symbolically drives people away with his grumpiness (smites). His clones in Wave 5 are his old memories of himself, younger and faster, but not entirely controllable.

The game is ultimately a cautionary tale for all of us, before we end up old and alone.

It is a very personal fear too. My wife and I are almost 40. No kids. We have very few friends that we interact with in person in this digital mobile age. Since I work from home, sometimes I don’t even leave the house for many days, and when I do, it is only to go to the supermarket right next door. I fear that I will become that old man if things don’t change.