These existential robots are the best thing in Times & Galaxy

polygon.com:

I love an existential robot — and Times & Galaxy, an indie adventure game, has a lot of them.

On the surface, the term “existential robot” seems like an oxymoron. Existentialism is, after all, a philosophical inquiry of human existence — humanity’s meaning, purpose, and value. In other words, “Who are we, and why do we exist?”

But the link between robots and existentialism is clearer than it first appears. They are, after all, a product of their maker. Over the years, there have been numerous articles, podcasts, talks, books, and research papers on robots and humanity. One neuroscientist even wrote that depressed robots can teach us about mental health.

I’ve always enjoyed philosophical discussions and conversations about mental health, so it’s no wonder that I gravitated towards Times & Galaxy’s existential — and often depressed — robots.

In many ways, they remind me of Marvin from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — another favorite robot of mine.

In Times & Galaxy, you play as the first robot reporter, starting your internship at the universe’s legacy newspaper of the same name. You live on the paper’s spaceship with the other employees; although the other editorial staffers are human and aliens alike, a lot of the ship’s menial workers are robots like you.

In between reporting stories on the ground, you can explore the ship and interact with its many inhabitants (and inanimate objects).

I quickly fell in love with Janitorbot for constantly questioning its endless task of cleaning the ship. Its pointed remarks and bot-speak make it very endearing — and, if you choose, you can have a romantic relationship with Janitorbot in-game by flirting with it.

Janitorbot is, in many ways, the complete opposite of Hirayama from the 2023 film Perfect Days, who works as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo but spends his time taking joy in the little things. For Janitorbot, the task is never complete, but instead a source of Sisyphean-like dread; meanwhile, Hirayama seems unphased by