Charles Games announce another historic game, Vortex
Developers from the Czech studio Charles Games announce another historic game that will arrive on mobile platforms, PC and Mac in the spring of next year. It will be a free Train to Sachsenhausen degree, which is being created in collaboration with the non-profit organization Living Memory and aims to recall in an interactive way the events of November 1939 connected with the closure of universities, the execution of Czech university students and their imprisonment in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The player takes on the role of a new medical student who experiences the events himself – he participates in anti-Nazi demonstrations, is also present at the funeral of Jan Opletal, he is touched by arrests at university dormitories in Ruzyně and the player also experiences transport to the mentioned concentration camp.
“Train to Sachsenhausen is a short, intense experience in which every decision can affect your destiny,” says Vít Šisler, chief designer of the game. He suggests that the game will combine elements of an adventure and an interactive novel with a comic book style that Charles Games owns. A similar style of storytelling was used by previous studio titles, the scope of which Train to Sachsenhausen does not reach, which, however, does not detract from the historical significance and importance of the newly emerging project. “The game has a strong atmosphere, especially thanks to the highly stylized drawings,” adds art director Eva Nečasová, referring to the artist with the pseudonym Ticho 762, who is the author of comics.
“I am glad that we can bring the young generation closer to the important historical event associated with November 17, 1939 in an innovative way,” adds Pavel Voves, a historian and director of Living Memory. According to him, he believes that the application will arouse interest in learning more about the fates of Czech university students who became victims of Nazi repression, in an interactive form, also with the help of interviews with witnesses of these events. One of them will be Karel Hýbka, who was affected by the arrest during the so-called “special event” on the night of November 16-17 and the transfer to the concentration camp. “They cut us short and we got striped rags with a number. We lost the name for the entire stay in the camp, “says one of the screenshots from the game. The memories of Karel Hýbek and others will be included in the virtual museum, which will be part of the game and will allow you to get acquainted not only with the stories of individual students, but also with period documents and photographs.
If you are interested in the game, you can subscribe to the newsletter on the official website and expect more information, which will undoubtedly come from the Charles Games in the coming weeks and months. After Attentat 1942 and Svoboda 1945, this is another very interesting project, which should definitely not escape your attention.
