Manuscripts speak: Russian video game "Black Book" became a board game

In Russia, on January 17, a board game adaptation of "Black Book" will be released, which will continue the plot of the project of the same name. In 2021, it became an international hit and sold over 100,000 copies in the first three weeks of sales. The creator of the computer version was the Perm studio "Mortyoshka", and for the sequel attracted domestic Open Borders Studio, a division of Hobby World. "Izvestia" tested the novelty one of the first, studying its pros and cons.

What the board game adaptation is about

By its genre, the board game "Black Book" is a cooperative game based on Slavic myths and Russian fairy tales. Its action takes place in the last years of the 19th century in Cherdynsky uyezd of the Russian Empire, and it's a direct sequel to the 2021 hit. Game sessions are designed for both single players and groups of up to four. Over one hundred illustrations have been created for the tabletop version that weren't in the PC version, most of them being maps of badlands, requests, and deals.

Six stories await gamers, combining ancient sorcery and the rudiments of technological progress that reached the Russian Empire. Players take on the roles of "nobles," that is, sorcerers wielding the mysterious power of the Black Book. The basic plot in each of the six stories is predetermined, but within any of them you can make your own decisions, develop your hero and get acquainted with the inhabitants of Cherdyn, people and mythological monsters: leshaks, sussedki and other evil things.

You can choose as a hero not only the sorceress Vasilisa, but also other characters of the computer version: grandfather Egor, Alexander, Eugenia. You will have to follow the track of discontent, which reflects how much the inhabitants of the county approve of the actions of nobles. The authors have deepened the system of sins, which at a certain number of points imposes the status of "cursed". After that, the player will receive not only a dark gift, but also restrictions. Cursed noble among the characters greatly increases the discontent of the inhabitants.

All stories have their own order of passage. According to the developers' idea, all participants win when they reach the end of the last story. The cooperative game status means that all participants win and lose together. The key task is to reach the goal in time, which you will learn in the prologue of the story. Users lose if the discontent track marker is at the final marker at night or they have not met specific story conditions. It will then be necessary to replay the story in campaign mode.

But much more important for the authors was to familiarize the audience with little-known pages of Russian history.

- We did not want to base the game entirely only on stories from Komi mythology. Yes, the action takes place in Cherdynsky uyezd of Perm province, but it is important not only where, but also when the action takes place, and this is the late 19th - early 20th century, a time of great anxiety, a time of great change, but most importantly - a time of incredible flourishing of Russian culture. Therefore, part of the plots are connected with Komi mythology, part with Russian culture of the second half of the 19th century, and part with contemporary Russian culture," said Ivan Tuzovsky, Doctor of Cultural Studies and narrative designer of the tabletop adaptation.

According to the expert, the team chose a few of the most vivid Komi myths. The figures in the myths are cross-cultural, they are various demons and devil spawn, which means that they will be understandable to players from any region of Russia and most gamers from countries with which we are united by historical destiny.

Olga Khristoforova, Doctor of Philological Sciences, anthropologist, folklorist and author of the books "Myths of the Northern Peoples of Russia" and "Shamans of the Northern Peoples of Russia", notes that the game is based primarily on Northern Russian mythology. Sorcerers, the Black Book they learn from - all these are motifs from the folklore of the Russian North. However, there are also images of the peoples of the Volga and the Urals, because the Russians of the Perm region borrowed many motifs from the local tribes when they came there, most actively from the end of the 16th century.

- There are board and computer games, cartoons, comics and other interesting projects based on the mythology of the northern peoples of Russia. They certainly have ethnographic, educational and social value. These projects preserve the traditions and languages of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, and familiarize children and adults of other nationalities with them. All this contributes to mutual enrichment and good neighborliness. I can recommend such modern board games based on folklore as Buryat "Shagai Naadan", Khanty and Mansi "Kat Vuya ", - added Olga Khristoforova.

For whom the novelty was created

According to Mikhail Akulov, General Director of the publishing holding Hobby World, fantasy and folklore motifs are incredibly popular and in demand all over the world, as they reflect the culture of peoples and thus attract a huge number of people to the hobby.

- What is always missing is our own, original and wonderful world of fairy tales and myths. Therefore, we wanted to make a game that would be a work based precisely on the rich heritage of Russian culture. The desktop version of "The Black Book" is a continuation of the popular original video game, where the legends and folk tales of the Perm region are organically woven into the gameplay and leave no one indifferent. We expect that it will be of interest not only to our compatriots, but also to foreign audiences," said Mikhail Akulov.

The audience may be deterred by the non-trivial gameplay with complex rules for the local combat system. "Black Book" risks being too complex and overloaded with mechanics for those who do not have enough experience in board games, says Pavel Semchenko, an expert in the game industry. To other problems he adds not too friendly price tag - 5 thousand rubles, while the computer game costs only 990 rubles. For this reason, the transition of gamers from a video game to its desktop adaptation can be painful, says the expert.

According to Alexander Gorbachenko, the director of the Intercontinental Cybersports League, a leading Russian expert in the field of computer sports, "Black Book" has educational value and training potential.

- It can and should become an auxiliary visual aid in the study of mythology and folklore of the peoples of Russia, both for schoolchildren and students of cultural studies, folklorists, anthropologists and even regional studies and sociology in junior courses. The game allows not only figuratively and visually visualize characters from oral folk legends, but also better understand the intricacies and peripetias of mythological plots. For example, the game form helps to better understand the basic plot schemes and tropes from Vladimir Propp's The Morphology of the Magic Tale and George Frazer's The Golden Bough. In essence, myths and fairy tales are also a kind of intellectual games, the development of the plot of which follows strictly defined rules and schemes," the specialist added.

He notes that the game "Black Book", released in 2021, is still very popular among gamers-intellectuals, as in fact it is not so much a game as a beautifully illustrated and animated interactive "book" with exciting stories with a bright Slavic and Permian Komi flavor. Both the video game and the tabletop version were created with the support of ethnographers and philologists, so they contain original and classic mythological plots and folklore characters: from classic mermaids and leshikhs to Ikota, Bannitsa and Herestun. Nowadays, the trend towards gamification is evident everywhere, including in pedagogy. In a visual and exciting interactive form, the material is learned faster and better.

- I would certainly recommend both parents and teachers to use the possibilities and potential of the Black Book in the educational process of children to expand their horizons and general erudition. Such board games, like reading books, activate and stimulate the imagination, give a creative impulse and awaken interest in reading fiction and studying different cultures, increasing the general cultural and educational level. I want children to grow up and develop not only with Marvel, but also immerse themselves in the cultural contexts of their native country. According to my observations, after "The Black Book" many young players, having been imbued with its atmosphere, wanted to get acquainted with Permian Komi folklore and mythology, as well as to reread Russian folk tales familiar from childhood and school," summarized Alexander Gorbachenko.

The desktop adaptation of "The Black Book" will be on sale on January 17.