Among the many traces that Jared L. Loughner, the young man charged with killing six people and wounding 13 others in a shooting spree in Tucson, left on the Internet were forum postings that reveal a deeply troubled individual struggling to make sense of his life and circumstances.

The chat logs, pulled from an obscure online game called Earth Empires, were first uncovered last week by The Wall Street Journal. Based on the initial postings, it seems Mr. Loughner was active on other online gaming forums as well, and was introduced to Earth Empires by someone he knew offline.

His postings  which varied wildly in topic, ranging from casual chatter about school exams and game play strategies to chilling rants about conflicts at work  may offer some glimpses into whatever inner demons the 22-year-old was battling.

The Earth Empires discussion boards are an integral part of the game, which is more primitive than later online games because game play, which challenges players to govern a country and make decisions about economic and military tactics, is largely based on typing in commands. Mr. Loughner’s exchanges on the site seem to be a crucial component of his daily social interactions, not uncommon for any member of an online community.