This is such a good depiction of trauma. It's crazy and irrational how Rocio's logic works, but that's exactly how someone traumatized thinks. I love it.
I mean, one of the theories presented in this video is that Rocio is LITERALLY a ghost possessing the game, lol. But yeah, I do agree that one of the best things about the series is how realistically it depicts girlhood trauma.
i really like how it doesnt matter what clothes are chosen in the dress up game, the outcome is the same it never is about what someone is wearing edit: for those of you talking about the game, there is no official playable game. the steam game is not an official part of Lacey Games
@@СтоянИванов-п2к Yes but that's not what the phrase means. It means that the SA could have been avoided if they wore less "revealing" clothes puting them as the blame but that is not the case. It does not matter what the victim was wearing, they couldn't have prevented it they are NOT to blame
This is the first horror “game” that actually creeped me tf out. The images, sound effects, and the message behind this game being girlhood trauma is incredibly eerie to me as a girl myself. I was actually scared because i knew the things that happened in this “fictional” game could happen to me in real life, and has already happened to many others. Im honestly surprised game theories covered this because it is just so dark imo.
@@oliviaislowkeycool rocio is portrayed by ghosttundra the creator of the series, who also plays as charlie. grace is portrayed by @juuiwun and Spidey (Spidey is the va and juuiwun is the physical actor) rocio is not real :)) the game and lore isnt real but what it represents sure is. (i know u werent being literal with rocio being real or not this is just my reassurancs)
@@angelinqxx they might not have been literal but i sure needed this rn. Its 1am and I'm alone in an apartment scared shtless so unironically thank you very much for this you're so sweet :)
The pigs eating flowers bc tom didnt mention it - sometimes when a girl loses her V-card, its called deflowering and pigs eat daisies and daisies symbolise innocence
Yeah, there's a LOT of things these guys couldn't go into detail about. This series is REALLY dark and wouldn't fly under RU-vid's monetization policies.
I can't believe you left out the hardest-hitting line in the whole series. I don't remember which video/game it was in, but I'll always remember the line: *"These are the real girls' games."*
They didn't reference that line directly, but they do cover the significance behind it, with how each of the games are a reflection of how dark reality can be, and isn't sugarcoated with lies like other forms of entertainment aimed at children.
I agree with this. It’s why the most intense thriller or horror movies are ones that are heavily inspired by reality. It’s like the saying goes, “Every lie told, has a bit of truth in it.”
@@PhuongTran-yj7wz well, if you see a movie with a scary monster it’s scary but you know it’s fake, so it takes away from true fear. But if the movie also shows realistic things that could happen it becomes more scarier then the monster because it could happen to you. Hope that helps! ^^
Tom, Mat never did the final Petscop theory. You have to do the final Petscop theory that Mat never gave us. We've waited years Edit: OMG 10k likes ty and hopefully we get the theory
Absolutely love the multiple warning, especially for a game like this about such serious and life changing trauma. Such a kind thing to help your viewers
One of the most univseral traits of the Hanged Man is the idea of self-sacrifice. Self-Sacrifice in an attempt to help others, but not in an ideal position. Other qualities are confinement and feeling trapped. Those of the Reversed Hangman typically shown to make rash and impulsive decisions, less of a careful sacrifice and more "Whatever happens happens"
Her message kind of reminds me of that movie where the girl, growing up in an abused home, is asked what she wants to be when she grows up. She then snaps on the counselor telling her that she's already grown up. That she grew up long before she was supposed to.
@@Noxrad I can't remember it. The only other thing I can remember was the girl's dad was obsessed with Jeopardy and the school she went to have bullies who'd dump bleach on other girls in the showers
Hehehe, true, irl I experience this but I woke up when my aunt kept on waking me up. Its hard, you feel like drowning from the worries you never had to worry, the thoughts you never have to think, and works you never have to do. Then, when you realize, you just get this feeling of a strong gust of wind blowing towards your face and end up worrying about the things you need to worry, thoughts that makes questions and perfect sense of what when where how, and works you need to do to grow and catch up to your age. Not all can be awake in an early age and not everyone experiences the same level of hardships and problem to drown in this vicious problem. And not everyone gets to live and wake up before realizing things they actually miss growing up and supposedly living life.
The sibling rivalry between the channels is the absolute best. I'm the second oldest of 14, and the oldest daughter and I LOVE the dynamics of "brothers" Tom, Lee, and Santi and "sister" Amy. It warms my heart and reminds me of my family
I like how it's not horror, but the truth and the lies are depicted as fun and bright things, like in the first game where she dresses up and goes to a date, that's not how it works. The stalker comes in but not as a person but a monster. It makes children scared of the truth, but as they progress they find out about the lies and piece everything together to find the moral in all the minigames. It's how they portray the game that makes it so outstanding, it's fun and bright until the truth ruins it. Very creative.
That outro you did reminded me of a quote i think fits here. "Hurting someone is as easy as throwing a rock in a lake, but do you know how deep that rock goes?"
I heard something like that, it was basicly that but a bit more. "Hurting someone is easy, like throwing a rock into a lake, sure you don't know how deep it goes, but do you ever think how many other rocks were thrown?"
@@Ej-qn2md "hurting someone is easy, like throwing a rock into a lake, but do you ever think about how deep that rock could go, and if it would ever be taken out of the lake?"
Your point about her thinking she's protecting the youth through brutal honesty really struck me as that's something i've done (mostly unknowingly) before. Telling younger girls i know about situations i've been in when they bring events up, warning them about potential dangers of their activities and what can happen to them if they're not careful, all out of a genuine desire to help and stop them experiencing what i have. It took me a lot of therapy to realise that that was not the way i should have been going about it
I've never been through the experiences I teach about, but I honestly just dk how to talk to kids I'm close to without...yk, delving _there_ if the context pops up. I didn't know those things at their age, or maybe I did but I was never really given an explanation. It was just "don't do this, don't go there" etc etc. I'm trying to be subtle, but honestly at times it feels impossible to not dump all of the knowledge onto their young minds. I'm kind about it ofc, not brash, but I just keep thinking "the earlier they know, the better, it'll stick with them way harder", and for the most part it does click. But I just dk if I'm doing the right thing...
17:57 I thought one of the cables were going into her arm where her vein was. I interpreted that as her being addicted to the internet. The phrase "im in heaven" would then be talking about the euphoric feeling you get when you use your addiction.
@@Smra_TheAstrophilewhy do you think she’s so pale That skin color isn’t natural I mean if you been on the internet you’ve seen what those ravaged by there addiction look like
@@Smra_TheAstrophileThe disappearance in this case would be metaphorical, and if not she's just so secluded(i think that's the right word)that she seemingly vanished from society.
Huh, never thought of it that way, but that's a very valid interpretation. I do think it's possible she used her creation as some form of escapism from her stressful life, and that at some point, she got TOO invested in it.
I'm surprised and honestly a bit disappointed that Tom didn't even mention the part with the pigs eating flowers. It shows not only the abuse itself, but what the actual abuse was, which makes it a lot more impactful if you understand the symbolism. I guess talking about that scene would demonitize them, so they left it out. Shame
There's a lot of really heavy topics in this series, so many things that I don't think they could talk about without the video getting age restricted, not even just demonitised.
@@PhantomGato-v- That's why I kind of wish they hadn't covered it. Others creators have done a much better job covering the series because they don't care about that, and so talk about the grittiest parts of the series.
@@odalyssanchez7 I can empathize with the feelings that something you care about wasn't really done justice. But, I wonder if you might feel some consolation in the fact that a guaranteed 500k viewers will know enough to go find the whole thing by the end of the week.
@@PlayerOne.StartGame I'm ngl with you, I thought that was the original cooking mama game and I wanted to rewatch it but all I got was the original and was like "tf happened I want my nostalgia"
I think another big thing about the website is that even after Rocio added all the dark traumatic stuff, it was still considered popular. Meaning she did do what she set out to do, and managed to reach out to little girls who were either enjoying the dark images with no understanding, or did understood and felt connected.
I got traumatized by watching Lacey’s but it’s good but remember… Art disturbs the innocent and comforts the disturbed (I think it went like that) Edit:GUYS I WROTE IT WRONG I KNOW
It's so depressing how Rocio created this website to both reveal her past trauma and warn children about the dangers of the real world and Gracie couldn't even care whether or not she was dead 😢 Edit: Okay it seems as though I was wrong about Rocio's intentions regarding how the website impacted children and I apologise. Also please don't wish harmful things for anyone regardless of whether they are fictional characters.
I seriously doubt that was Rocio's intention. I'm pretty sure she was just using the site to vent out her traumas and was indifferent to what the kids who played on the site thought. Like, if she really cared about them, don't you think she'd be a bit more hesitant to expose them to such blatantly disturbing imagery? I do agree that Grace was a heartless b*tch though.
the bits and pieces rocio put into laceygames feels like the neurotic trance that drives a person's demented mind to mania, trying to escape (or at the very least alleviate) the pain of trauma by making sense of their reality, only for it to fall apart the moment they realized they had no control of their own life since the very beginning.
14:02 I don't think the point of Jay's Skating Game is that "recklessness leads to fatality." I mean, it had already been established that Jay was killed off because mothers complained about her being a tomboy. It's not like Rocio killed off her character because she wanted to advise kids about the dangers of being reckless, she killed her off to spite the parents who complained about her.
@@midnalazuli793 (disclaimer: I didn't see the original videos, I'm a coward, so what I know is from here) Jay was killed after a lot of parents called her a bad influence, which in real life is usually followed by those parents forcing their kids to not talk to a certain child (in that case, Jay). It feels to me like Jay might have had that happened to her, losing parts of her friend circle, which would explain why she drove (I hope that's the word) recklessly intentionally, not caring about consequences like death. P.s I hope it's readable, English isn't my first language and my brain is half dead today😅
@@Lizard_Ri Well, I guess that's possible, but just look at how devastated Lacey was upon seeing her friend's corpse. It's obvious she never abandoned her, and that her death impacted he greatly. Their friendship is honestly beautiful considering they're polar opposites, with Jay being a tomboy and Lacey being a girly girl.
@@midnalazuli793 The killing is more symbolic than it is literal. Sure you could say that the creator did that for the sake of parents but in the context of the game it makes much more sense for her to be reckless and die. It teaches the important lesson of recklessness.
Watching the Lacey series as it came out, i would have NEVER expected Game Theory of all channels to tackle it. Petscop, Shipewrecked64 and even Hiimmarymary were pretty dark, but this might take the cake for the next 2 years, man.
3:56 the thing censured by the monetisation sign are condons I understand why he didn't mention it, but it is heavily implied that her uncle didn't only abuse her physicially or psychologically In this story there is a prevelant theme of sa
Honestly, I applaud Tom for talking about a series like this. As much as I love MatPat I can't imagine him wanting to write a theory about this. But Tom did, and he did it while raising awareness about real subjects, he was as unfiltered as possible, and approached the subject with the appropriate level of caution and sensitivity. Much respect. This was the first webseries to make me cry.
Maybe...? I'm not even fully convinced her intention was to help kids, I think she was just using Lacey Games as a way to vent out her traumas by projecting them onto the character she created, and was indifferent towards how kids reacted to them.
By the logic of the theory, Rocio would be the embodiment of "Just because you are correct, doesn't mean you are right". Alphasnow made a funny observation of Rocio trying to be a Don Bluth with the dark tones, however the difference is that Don Bluth believed in the idea of "You can tell any story to a kid as long as you give them a happy ending", in order to bring the idea that through hardships and struggles, the enjoyment of a reward feels better. Again, following the logic of the theory, Rocio would despise that idea because the whole point is that there's no happy endings, otherwise where is her happy ending? She believes that the only through raw and crude reality is ideal for kids to learn and truly be ready for what life can be. Like you said, right message, worst possible delivery.
I agree 💯 If Grace was really Rocio’s friend, she would NEVER have said such mean things about her behind her back and she would never have abandoned her either. I’m surprised Charlie didn’t try to tell Grace to stop saying such mean things about Rocio
Let's not forget that in Lacey's Petshop, when the player goes in the dining room her uncle was shown has a pig eating flowers, which could represent that her uncle not only abused her, but also r and 🍇ed her..
@@pedro33226 flowers are a sign of purity, therefore, someone eating flowers is a sign of stealing someone's innoccance (deflowering, in this case innocance=r), the pig just represents her uncle
I don't think you commented on Grace enough. You can tell by her words and her body language shown in the latest video that she is being deceptive to Charlie, which likely makes her a part of Rocio's trauma
I noticed that aswell. Kinda hard to miss the fact that what Grace says does NOT line up with what we see in the videos. Thus, Tom's closing remark about how to save Rocio is much less about Grace being the better person and helping her, and more so Charlie taking the responsibility that Grace shifted due to selfishness, and being the friend Rocio deserved from the start.
Grace definitely comes across like she knows more than she's letting on. It's already obvious that she's not that enthusiastic over reminiscing on Lacey Games, to the point where she initially denied she had any affiliation with it. It feels like she only wants to reveal certain parts that paint Rocio as the bad person, but doesn't want to mention anything that could potentially antagonize herself in any way.
As someone who frequented the GGG website (it's either GoGirlsGames or GirlsGoGames, can't quite remember) as a kiddo, the Lacey's Games series really makes me feel nostalgic, especially with that website jingle? These pictures are exactly the same- /Lh But, on a serious note, the fact that this is a series about traumatic experiences, as well, leaves me feeling so much more exposed in a way that a lot of these other nostalgia-trigger analog series' just haven't achieved for me. Lacey's Games hits way too close to home for anyone to really sit comfortably, which I think was the point from the start. Trauma isn't really supposed to be comfortable.
You know, I find it interesting how you put Bluey as part of the shows that "tell kids lies", but I feel like Bluey is like the most realistic kid cartoon out of all the shows you have shown.
Ignore all 3 bots. My cue that we were in for something crazy was the lack of jumpscare. If it's not a joke, it's a jumpscare. The fact thay we see neither is concerning.
One thing, at 7:47 you mentioned Charlie as the person behind the channel but I believe they are just a friend of tundra. The person who plays Rocio is the actual creator of the lacey games videos.
Thanks for covering the series, I'm really glad to see it appreciated! Saw the comments saying that a lot of crucial stuff was omitted or missed out, but honestly, I think the message was conveyed well anyways. You don't have to see every part of the protagonist's suffering to figure out how bad it was and to understand the story in general. Also, just taking the chance to appreciate the art style of Lacey Games. It doesn't look like your average GGG game, with vivid colors and polished design; but it sure does look like a bunch of drawings from a sad disturbed teen from 10-15 years ago. The style is replicated almost perfectly and makes me incredibly nostalgic. It also further shapes out Rocio's character; she feels like a kid I could have known back in the day.
Well I didn’t expect to have a personal connection to this… my cousin Rosio took her own life when she was 15 a little over 10 years ago. She was horribly bullied at school.
I sympathize with you, I experienced something similar in elementary school and almost did it to myself, but I tried to be stronger, I graduated from school successfully and became happier and did not need self-harm. Hey, I'm sure she knows that you support her and remember her, the main thing is to believe that you are stronger than all this and you will definitely be happy. Bad and good are temporary, even death is not eternal like life. The pain subsides and all that worries you is you and your happiness. ❤
@@kingkalico why did you presume something had to be "wrong" with her for her to get bullied?? If anything, it's always the bullied who have something wrong in them.
*Curiosity :* the creator is Brazilian, this means that it is very difficult for a Brazilian to be recognized for their work, she only speaks in English to her audience, the majority of whom are foreigners. Edit: Sorry for any mistakes in English, because I used a translator :)
I feel like the dress up part of laceys game wasnt covered as much as it should of been in this video. The horror other girls have felt about a stalker like kacey has. The truth that lacey knows what is going to happen. Its such good horror and intro.
@@thediethrower1803 they don't even have to include the grape just a bit more cover would of been appreciated for everyone that has been in Lacey's place. And bless every survivor who didn't have Lacey's outcome.
There's one scene that I feel is very important, but nobody is bringing up. In Lacey's Diner, at around 6:36, slowing down the video will allow you to see Rocio with two wires on her replace Lacey for a split second
I never heard of the series Lacey's games, but man it really hits some hard points. I really appreciate Tom giving the warnings in the beginning because I'm not sure if I would have braced myself as much as I did without them! But just how Rocio's logic of bringing justice by teaching girls what "reality" is like and how she had no supportive figures in her life brings up a lot of thoughts. I think this hit me more AFTER the video ended and I started thinking about it all. Thank you Tom and team Theorists for covering this and thank you for encouraging everyone to consider how powerful words, or even the energy someone carries when interacting with others, can be!
I really don't think that was what Rocio's intention was. I think she just used her creation to vent out her own traumas with total indifference to how kids would react. Like, in the fourth episode, it's revealed that Jay's Skating Game and Lacey's Makeup Parlour traumatized a whole bunch of kids.
You know it’s gonna be rough when there’s no opening joke Edit: as someone who struggled with mental healthy in the past this was too real and depressing for me.
I watched a documentary video about Lacey's games and omg I couldn't look at the screen for the entire video. Lacey's games really knows what it's doing visually
I saw a Hoarders episode where a woman was abused and traumatized by her husband so badly that her only outlet was cooking. She'd use maggots, raw meat, and dead animals for dinner recipes as a passive-aggressive way of expressing her anger and trauma. The Lacey's Diner segment is actually oddly realistic.
I just wanna say how well this pseudo-game nails the "I grew up watching American cartoons, but when I was was pre-teen I started watching Sailor Moon" art style that was prevalent in the 2000s.
If yall like Lacey's Games, there's an ARG similar called "Rain Heart Kawaii Quest" that has a visual novel!! It's really cool and I'd love to see it covered on here 🙏🏾
i love how this series covers trauma to realistically. as someone whose beem through a few events Lacey's been through, this is exactly what thoughts related these experiences would look like of it was visible
I’ve seen a uncensored video of Lacey’s wardrobe, I couldn’t sleep after watching the end and when I see something like this it forces me to remember what happened to her and I can still hear her crying at the end of the game, so I’m kinda relieved after finding out why and who made that game
The quality of this is immense, I love how games can go so deep by just its own way, no needed immense graphics, outstanding budget, etc, just the creativity, it’s own style is what makes it amazing
Exactly, which is why it's really cool and fascinating to find and explore some smaller games or indie games like what was presented in the theory. Also you probably have already, but forget the bot comments you get, they just try to get your attention
How I have been waiting for this episode to come out is insane. Lacey games is so lore heavy and so dark, that I've honestly been wanting y'all to do a theory on it.
The fact that i was obsessed with gils flash games and have a history of mental problems this horror game means so much to me i am so happy you guys are talking about it.
6:55 gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss (i cannot contain the sheer excitement of this being turned into a game theory I absolutely love this series so much omfg AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQQ)
Lacey was good game, they explain good meaning using disturbing way like how it dark reality was. If you only see the disturbing, you must look twice. Like saloon game, each pet request was the characteristics owner
And the dressing point was, never go outside alone, or never trust anyone. The cooking was a perspective of someone who depressed cuz the plan wasnt go as plan. All of it was a warning and some perspective that we never knew
I love how Tom is focusing on this with love and care I feel like matpat mainly focused on theory's without focusing on the main tragic story (example is man in the suit theory)
I have a suspicion that Lacey might not just be fictional to Rocio. You mentioned that Lacey was “invented to embody Rocio’s hopes and dreams” and I think that’s even more true than we thought. When a person endures extreme trauma, they can dissociate and invent a new persona to fulfill needs. This is referred to as dissociative identity disorder. It certainly sounds like Rocio disaster after killing her uncle. That would be when Lacey was created. It looks to me like Lacey and Rocio are struggling with creative differences regarding the games.
@@midnalazuli793 you’ve probably heard of “multiple personalities”. That’s a pop-culture misunderstanding of a real condition called dissociative identity disorder. When someone experiences something very traumatic, they may _dissociate._ This basically means they mentally detach from their feelings and their experiences. In rarer cases, a second step can occur where a second personality is invented to take on the pain, to protect or comfort them or embody some need they have. Rocio experienced extreme trauma, sat on her bed unable to move for days, and came up with Lacey, who embodied her dreams of living a happier life. You could take this at face value, say that Lacey is merely a fictional character to Rocio, but the conditions are certainly right for her to be more. Two personas in the same body aren’t always aware of each other. In a way, both of them are the “original” person and they act accordingly. They can end up in a sort of conflict this way. See how Rocio seems unhappy with the contents of some of the games. I’d guess that Lacey made them and Rocio didn’t agree with the direction she took.
@@Fluffkitscripts My interpretation was that Rocio initially did have good intentions and wanted to create a safe space for children online to play, but at some point, she snapped mentally and began using Lacey Games to vent out her traumas by projecting them onto the character she created. There's without a doubt some kind of connection between Rocio and Lacey, the videos make that very clear, but I don't believe that it's so extreme, Rocio believes she actually IS Lacey, but that's just my own personal opinion.
As someone with OSDD-1b (basically DID lite)... it requires you to have had trauma as a kid. Which absolutely fits here - so I wouldn't see it as impossible. This also brings up questions of which killed the Uncle (which I can't fault them for honestly) and how that affects their relationship...
as a male myself i can confirm that although there are dangerous men out there, there are also men that would actually want to try and help (and be disgusted if any other men did some [redacted] stuff.) even though i never heard of the game series until now i must say this video goes really deep and hits hard, even if some elements had to be avoided due to youtube's monetizing restrictions. (and if you want to end it all, slash yourself, etc ... just know that even with the world being mainly hateful there are still beacons of hope out there, you just gotta find them amidst the ocean.) i have rambled enough now, great video though, and its sad seeing that it takes effort to fix a person, but nothing to break a person.
9:53 this comment is being made as I am watching, but I have a theory on this. I think the horrible images are here so Rocio can cope and accept her past as part of who she is now. She made these scenes to say “I used to be abused and beaten, but I was able to escape. Even if I’m still haunted by him. I won in the end.”
Tom, this was such a great ending to the Petscop theory, good job... Also could you perhaps make Roblox Pressure theory ( never understanded their story)
I initially heard about these on tik tok in passing, and honestly I'm glad to see the games don't really exist. With a story to tell, the narrative can feel safer and easier to digest. I work with children. When they start growing up I feel so happy. But I also feel scared. I'd do anything to protect them.
1:15 I love these little crossovers between hosts, I hope they find more opportunities to slip these in on other channels depending on the topics they cover
1:20 “If Lee would stop STEALING MY STUFF!!!” Istg these 4 theorist hosts are just all big siblings arguing with each other while Ash is the little sister chilling playing silly games with grandpa Matt over on GTLive 😭
I'm glad that Lacey's games have been depicting trauma like this. It doesn't make us angels, we actually become very vulnerable. I think Lacey's Games showed it well, and I'm glad it's accurate and that you guys covered it!
this is the first video I've seen eversince Matpat retired, and I had some personal worries, but as soon as I clicked on it, I felt those worries melt away can't wait to catch up on all the new videos 💗
I've been WAITING for the Theorist channel to cover Lacey Games, it's been one of my favorite recent horror series and I'm glad it's getting even more attention. Obviously Lacey touches on some very harsh topics but I think it shows it in the most raw and creative way it can, not just for shock value. There's so much more to come since this is still an on going series so I hope to see it pop back onto this channel soon
