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The passing of Tsa (Szymborska) - 1968 to 2023
Dear all
It is with a heavy heart, that I have to tell you that adventure gamer + former “Following Freeware” contributor Tsa Szymborska has passed away last Monday. He was 55 years old.
As he was very private I will not reveal much more here. He was born with health problems but thanks for his courage to say yes to complicated operations, procedures and his resilience, he got, as he liked to say towards the end “50 bonus years”.
Tsa loved adventure games and I do too. I was never active on here, but he was, and he met some of you at adventure gamers meet ups in Hastings and Amsterdam in the mid 2010 years.
I was in Amsterdam. I am his best friend, from Switzerland. We would not have met if it hadn’t been for adventure games.
We met in URU live. Around 2005/2006. I was standing on a bridge considering a MARKER MISSION. “Can someone please come up here and help me?” I wrote in the in-game chat. Tsa did, without hesitation.
The rest turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me! The friendship that saved my life, that endured while others came and went, he was there for every struggle and every triumph. He was my best friend, my constant and he became my family!
Tsa had many friends, from his childhood, uni days, from working in science and when his health sadly forced him to give that up, he built new friendships: moving adventure game online friends into RL, book clubs, one friend to go to McDonald’s, drawing lessons, the friend he made at the local tea shop. With another he watched Star Trek (on my Netflix account, which made me happy!). He also worked as a volunteer photographer at a local museum.
I was lucky to experience many trips, visits, endless Skype dinners, lots of wisdom, so much laughter, compassionate discussions… Yes there were a few minor fights (we overcame) and we would bicker like siblings when tired or stressed… HE was the best friend anyone could have wished for!!!
In 2022 Tsa’s body started shutting down. I’m lucky to have spent time with him in the hospital and to say goodbye to him in the hospice last Sunday (he was unresponsive by then and passed away Monday morning).
He talked with passion and joy about many topics, the games too. I played during the pandemic, easpecially during the two christmas lockdowns, and rediscovered adventure games for myself. Although I only play the phone game “Township” daily, I got a ton of adventure waiting to be played. It’s sad that I can’t discuss them with him anymore, but I’ll play them in his honour, remembering that they brought us together.
He told me: “Life is an ADVENTURE. I wished I had had more of it.”
If you met Tsa or had contact with him on here, and would like his abituary or my euolgy (after Monday) as a PDF, please PM me! I am also happy to do zoom calls later in the month, if anyone has questions or would like to reminisce.
Please feel free to link to this post or share it with others who knew him. Thanks!
Here is a picture of Tsa in URU… 
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I was so sad to hear of the passing of TSA, he was such a sweet soul. I happened on Adventure Gamers by accident, and just by poking around I found the Chit Chat forum. I dropped in and meet some amazing people. I live in the USA and I don’t travel much at all, especially outside of the states, so meeting people from around the world was such an amazing gift to the young 30 something I started out as.
I taught pre-k for eight years and I reached out to my now friends in the chit chat group, and I had several friends send me items from their countries for my students when we did our around the world in pre-k. TSA was the first one to send me items from the Netherlands. My students were so excited to see items from around the world and to also see the people that sent the items. Flash forward a few years once my daughters were born, TSA always posted pictures of his rabbits and my girls got to watch the rabbits in TSA garden and run through his house. I was so sweet to watch my girls fall in love with the rabbits and laugh at what TSA had done for them. Each year he would send us a Christmas card/ Post card that he had drawn or took a picture of and made it special for my family. Each year I would send one to him as well but he would never receive it until January no matter when I would send it ..... I would always tell him “I sent your Christmas card”, he would say “oh yeah, I guess it will show up in January” 
I will for ever be grateful for the times that I meet TSA and my other game friends here, and carried through the forums, the games and to Facebook. I am thankful to Maria and Lena for keeping in touch so I can be apart of TSA’s funeral and be able to share with his loved ones
Lord make my words as sweet as honey, for tomorrow I may have to eat them.
I’ve been off-line for a few days & have just been alerted to the passing of Tsa. I’m so sorry & forward my commiserations to his family & friends….as well as everyone who enjoyed the Following Freeware thread.
When I first started writing Following Freeware it was a tiny job, because I knew hardly any places to look for new games each month. A few years in I had found a ton of sources and the job was becoming overwhelming.
Step in TSA, who offered to help me write the articles. We both searched for games, compared our finds, and then split the resulting list between us. Him doing a chunk of games eased the stress for me on its own. It also gave me the opportunity to enjoy some of the games he recommended without having to worry about writing about them afterwards.
I also enjoyed meeting him in person on more than one ocassion (including a memorable meeting in Amsterdam where he was perpetually being put at risk by my dubious wheelchair steering skills 
)
I was sad to hear of his passing. The adventure gaming world has lost an enthusiastic advocate and the world in general has lost a lovely person. 
No Nonsense Nonsonnets 44
Quest for Knowledge
I’m hoping to find name for game that I played long ago
The people here so well-informed, someone is sure to know
A time machine, grandfather clock, I give it to myself
Oh never mind, the box is sitting there upon my shelf
For real retro gaming nerds, name that game.
When I first started writing Following Freeware it was a tiny job, because I knew hardly any places to look for new games each month. A few years in I had found a ton of sources and the job was becoming overwhelming.
Step in TSA, who offered to help me write the articles. We both searched for games, compared our finds, and then split the resulting list between us. Him doing a chunk of games eased the stress for me on its own. It also gave me the opportunity to enjoy some of the games he recommended without having to worry about writing about them afterwards.
I also enjoyed meeting him in person on more than one ocassion (including a memorable meeting in Amsterdam where he was perpetually being put at risk by my dubious wheelchair steering skills
I was sad to hear of his passing. The adventure gaming world has lost an enthusiastic advocate and the world in general has lost a lovely person.
I remember he sent me a message about your wheelchair driving when I asked how everyone doing ...... I had a chuckle at the way he phrased the ride
Lord make my words as sweet as honey, for tomorrow I may have to eat them.
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