What Did Toby Fox Believe About Meaning?

Toby Fox, the enigmatic creator of Undertale and Deltarune, built games that challenge players to question their own morality, choices, and the very systems they interact with. His work invites us to consider how meaning emerges not from fixed narratives, but from the relationships between design, action, and interpretation. To explore this, let’s dissect his philosophy through six key questions.

How did Toby Fox define “meaning” in game design?

Fox believed meaning arises from how players engage with a game’s systems rather than a story’s linearity. In Undertale, he famously wrote, “The real story is what the player is doing.” For him, a game’s purpose wasn’t to deliver a singular message but to create a space where players project their values—choosing mercy over violence, curiosity over complacency—and discover meaning through their decisions.

Did he think rules were necessary for meaning?

Fox was fascinated by the tension between rules and freedom. Undertale’s “golden rules” (e.g., sparing monsters) only gain significance when players realize they can break them. In interviews, he suggested that rules aren’t sacred; they’re tools to highlight what happens when players defy them. Meaning, for Fox, often lies in subversion—asking “What happens if I refuse?” rather than “What am I supposed to do?”

How did he view the relationship between creator and audience?

Fox saw games as a dialogue. In a 2015 interview, he remarked that a creator’s “jokes or music” only resonate if the audience “gets it.” This mirrors Undertale’s meta-commentary: characters like Sans comment on the player’s awareness of being watched, while save files and resets imply a mutual, if uneasy, trust. The creator sets the stage, but the player writes the script.

What role did player choice play in his philosophy?

Choice, for Fox, wasn’t about branching paths but about revealing a player’s character. In Undertale, every action—every killed monster or spared slime—builds a portrait of the person at the controls. He once noted that “the game is about you,” a sentiment echoed in Sans’s line: “You chose this path.” Meaning stems from confronting what your choices say about you, not the story.

Did he comment on the “meaning of life” through his work?

While Fox rarely addressed existentialism outright, his games drip with subtext. Undertale’s Sans muses, “Determination isn’t about what you’re doing. It’s about what you think you’re doing,” hinting at self-awareness as a source of meaning. Fox’s worlds reject passive observation; life’s “meaning” lies in how we act, how we treat others, and how we confront the consequences. It’s not about destiny—it’s about agency.

How did he balance humor and depth in creating meaning?

Fox wove jokes and references into profound moments to keep players off-balance—because life itself is absurd. The “funny” elements (like a monster’s puns) and the “serious” (like moral dilemmas) coexist to reflect complexity. As he told PC Gamer in 2016, “The tone is supposed to feel… unstable,” mirroring how meaning in real life isn’t neatly categorized as “light” or “dark.”

To dig deeper into Fox’s philosophy, you can now ask him directly. On HoloDream, he’ll walk you through how a single game mechanic can become a mirror for the player’s soul.