Something’s In The Air with Game World Illuminated
Etsy can be the home to many creative outlets from around the world. Almost anything you can think of may be a possibility through the website’s wide range of small businesses. One such business in mind was something I found on a Discord server I follow. It was the link to Game World Illuminated’s Etsy page, and the one who shared it also posted a couple of pictures of a few video game-inspired candles.
After browsing the page for a while, I discovered more about the concept of the business. Christopher Starkey, the founder of Game World Illuminated, was just gaming one day and wondered, “What would this environment smell like?” It wasn’t long until Christopher placed two-and-two together and ignited the idea of crafting video game-inspired candles. And with only months into the business, Christopher and Game World Illuminated have accumulated a five-star rating with 1,339 Sales at the time of this writing.
I eventually sent Christopher a greeting and asked him if I could chat with him about the business, video games, and candles. And thus, here is my interview with Christopher Starkey, the man behind Game World Illuminated.
You mentioned in the item descriptions of Game World Illuminated that when you were playing video games, you stopped to wonder what the environments would smell like. Do you recall which specific game it was that set off this unique interest in crafting video game candles?
The game that brought this all about was Bioshock. Wandering through the halls of Rapture for no less than the tenth time, I couldn’t help but wonder how to take this experience that I loved to the next level. In turn, this was my first candle and has by far been the most popular.
How long have you been making homemade candles? Has it always been a hobby of yours?
I actually only started this in March of this year. I have a friend who has been making candles since the start of the pandemic, so I was able to use his learnings and skip past most of the trial and error phase and get right to making some awesome candles.
Out of all the candles you’ve crafted for Game World Illuminated, which one is your personal favorite?
You know, the answer to this question changes almost every day. My girlfriend loves the earthy scents and is hooked on the Dark Woods candle, which is one of our newer scents inspired by the world of Slenderman. For myself, the High Seas, inspired by Sea of Thieves, does a fantastic job of capturing the essence of a pirate’s life. Scented as a combination of Sea Breeze and Pirates Rum, it is both a great immersion tool as well as a pleasantly scented candle.
With the great influx of customers rushing to your Etsy page, there’s bound to be one individual who will wish for something else. Have you had any personal requests?
I get all sorts of requests and keep a running list of ideas for new games to build off of. The most popular by far is Final Fantasy. With nearly 20 games in the lineup, there is a ton of great content to work with there.
We’re all gamers here, so I must ask this: what’s your favorite game?
Final Fantasy X. Back when I got my first PS2 for Christmas in 2000, this was the first game I opened with it. I have played through it more times than I could count, and I don’t think there is a system I haven’t bought it for, even including the Vita.
Which scent do you like to experiment with the most?
I have a Spiced Woods fragrance that changed drastically based on what it is paired with. Whether I mix it with cherry blossoms to create the Isle of Tsushima, a deep musk for Silent Hill or Absynth to create Chernobyl, you would never know they all contain the same base scent.
Are you working on any new candles at the moment?
I’ve got a few ideas that I am playing around with, but any new scents are going to be put on hold until after Halloween. We just released 12 scents based on Horror games for the spooky season, and I tend to try spacing out new scents and dropping a few together.
You’re practically taking video game immersion to the next level in terms of utilizing as many human senses as possible. We got sight for the screen, hearing for the audio, controls for our feels, special food for our tastes, and now we have special candles to essentially complete the experience. Do you feel as if you made an impact in starting up the Game World Illuminated business?
I like to think that I have, although there is still much more to be done. With over one billion gamers in the world, I have barely scratched the surface. Through conversations with some of my customers, they have told me they love the idea of full immersion, so I would love to get this out to a wider audience.
As of now, you’ve done business with over 1,300 customers while establishing a five-star rating. Game World Illuminated has definitely taken off, and there are no signs of slowing down: there are so many more video game scents to make! With that in mind, what do you see in Game World Illuminated’s future?
Honestly, I am still trying to wrap my head around the current state. I never imagined that it would only take four months to reach over 1,000 people with my idea. Right now, the future plans are really just to keep up with the demand and play around with some more scents, for games both new and old!
I would like to thank Christopher for taking the time to answer these questions. You can find his Etsy page for Game World Illuminated right here for the full list of available candles. And as a special promotion, if you use the code “nerdstash” while shopping for your favorite scents, you will receive 20% off your total order! So, be sure to check out his page and to see what else is in store!
