How to add a friend and text chat in Sky: Children of the Light
Sky: Children of the Light is definitely an MMO, with other players constantly around you as you explore, but figuring out how to make friends in Sky isn’t all that well explained. Like Thatgamecompany’s prior game Journey, Sky takes a somewhat minimalist, anonymized approach to multiplayer and friendship online.
The important thing to know is that you’ll need to unlock the ability to interact with each friend you make, which is part of the “dual consent” multiplayer system that TGC’s creative director Jenova Chen says is critical to designing a non-toxic online space. Here’s what you need to know about finding your existing friends and adding new ones in Sky.
How to add a friend in Sky
How to add a friend you already know
- Open Sky’s menu and navigate to the “Friends” screen
- Choose “one-time Friend code” and pick a nickname then either scan the QR code or copy the text code on screen and send to your friend
- If receiving a one-time friend code, go the the “Sky codes” section of the menu to enter it
Adding a friend from your Steam friends list does not appear to be possible at launch on PC, but Steam friends integration is mentioned as part of Sky’s early access plans and will likely be added later.
How to add a friend that you’ve met in-game
- Press F (X on gamepad) to open the interactions menu with a nearby player
- Spend one candle to offer friendship to that player
- If accepted, set a nickname for your friend
- You now have access to the tree of unlockable friendship abilities with that player
To manage your friends list in Sky, interact with the winged stone statue at the entrance to Aviary Village or the Constellation Table, the small stone dias in front of the realm gates at the back of the Village. From this menu you can edit the nicknames for your friends, add them to favorites, block them, or teleport to their location if they are online.
How to co-op in Sky
Once you’ve unlocked the friendship constellation for a player in Sky, you’re free to co-op together whenever you like. Here are some of the benefits of having a friend nearby in Sky:
- Replenish cape energy by standing together
- Unlock doors that require more than one player together
- Do joint emotes together after they’ve been unlocked
- Help one another find more winged light
- Guide another player through an area by holding their hand
To travel to a friend, go to the constellation table in the Home space or the small stone friendship statue at the front of Aviary Village, find your friend’s name, and click the teleporting icon of one silhouette flying towards another. You’ll teleport to the beginning of whichever map area your friend is in. It may take a moment (up to a minute, in my experience) for you and your friend to see one another so be patient! Once you’re in the same instance of the map, you will see an eye symbol noting their location on screen.
Holding hands is one of the most useful co-op features in Sky because it allows a more experienced player to guide a newer one, if they want. To hold a player’s hand, open the interaction menu for the player you’re standing near and click the hands icon to offer your hand to them. They will be prompted with a button to accept. The player who offered their hand will be the leader and their follower will be dragged along with them automatically. A follower can break a hand hold at any time just by walking away, so be careful not to let go unintentionally.
How to text chat and unlock other features
Most of Sky’s social features need to be unlocked through the friendship constellation by spending candles (your experience points, essentially), which you’ll need to do for each new friend you make. Only one friend or the other needs to spend the candles to unlock each feature.
You need to be standing beside your friend while they are online to unlock new social features. This cannot currently be done through the social menu while you’re apart.
Notably, any friend you add via a Sky code or platform friends list (Nintendo, Steam, PSN) will automatically have text chat unlocked, so disregard the below in that case. To text chat with an acquaintance who isn’t your friend, find a chat bench—a small stone bench with a candle in the center—and light the candle then sit down together to have a one on one text conversation. These are often located in realm lobby areas and social gathering spaces.
Here are some other common social features and how much they cost in Sky.
- Holding hands: One candle, unlocked immediately when becoming friends
- High fiving, hugging, emotes: Varying candle costs throughout the friendship constellation
- Text chat: Three candles, unlocked after high fives and hugs
- Warp: 10 ascended candles in the second friendship tier. Not to be confused with teleporting to a friend’s map area, warping sends you directly to their location and joins your hands together.
- Gift an in-app purchase: Free, but located in the second friendship tier and allows you to gift premium purchases and season passes to that friend.
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