Coping With Cancer: How Game Developer Sam Coster’s Battle With Cancer Inspired ‘Crashlands’

Being diagnosed with cancer will feel like the end of the world. People react and cope with their cancer diagnosis in different ways. For game developer Sam Coster of Butterscotch Shenanigans, having been diagnosed with cancer helped him and his brothers create the awesome video game, "Crashlands."

Sam Coster along with his brother, Seth, started a small game studio called Butterscotch Shenanigans. The Coster brothers were doing little, silly mobile games to make enough money for their studio to survive. However, in 2013, Sam Coster was diagnosed with cancer - non-Hodgkin's lymphoma stage 4B to be exact.

In an interview with Kotaku, Sam Coster shares how after his first chemo session, he realized that he didn't want to die while making some shitty mobile endless runner. Sam wanted to make something that has a little more cultural memory and can help someone going through a similar situation as him forget. Sam Coster wanted to develop a game that will help him escape while he was undergoing treatment for his cancer.

Sam Coster also says that when he realized that it was possible, he was going to die, his approach to game design and development reflected what matters to him and that is escapism from whatever situation someone is in through their video game. So that's how "Crashlands" was born.

In a way "Crashlands" is Sam Coster's last hurrah before he dies. It is an amalgamation of Sam's favorite games. "Crashlands" has elements of "Diablo", "Pokemon", "Terraria", and "Minecraft". Besides helping him cope with cancer, the development of "Crashlands" also helped his brothers deal with his diagnosis.

Fortunately, Sam Coster didn't die. After a few chemo sessions, everything seemed fine. He even got engaged, but when Sam and his fiancée was visiting Disneyland, he found a lump on his chest. It turns out the piece meant the cancer was back and he had to undergo a more savage chemo treatment.

Throughout all these, Sam has been continuously developing and polishing "Crashlands." In a way, his battle with cancer inspired "Crashlands" and "Crashlands" inspired him to think real, fight, and live.

Last January 21, 2016, "Crashlands" was launched on Steam, Android, and iOS. Critics found "Crashlands" very funny, intuitive and highly-entertaining. Sam Coster survived cancer and is currently in remission. His goal of making a video game for him to escape from disease and for others to escape whatever bad situation they are in was realized.