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Katabasis is about enigma, exploration, and myth. It is about a father, a son, and ancient gods. The player possesses a father who has taken his estranged young son on a trip into the Russian wilderness. He must simply wander through wilderness environments and architectural spaces, while attempting to understand things that might not be understandable. This game was a senior thesis project to graduate with a degree in Game Art and was made with Unity engine. The title, katabasis, is an archaic Greek word which simply means a descent. It has various meanings in different contexts, but the most relevant here is that of the archetypal descent into the underworld: such as Orpheus’ journey to retrieve Eurydice from the clutch of Hades, and Odysseus’ trip to the mouth of the underworld to question Tiresias. The initial concept for the game was inspired by the tragic and still-enigmatic Dyatlov Pass incident, in which 9 experienced ski hikers, at the beginning of their trip, for some unknown reason ripped out of their tent in the middle of night during below-zero temperatures in 1959. All nine died from hypothermia or trauma related injuries, some with unknown causes. Incidentally, the event took place on the side of a mountain known by the native peoples of the area, the Mansi, as Kholat Syakhl, which translates as The Mountain of the Dead. The major events of the game are based upon the mythologies of the Mansi people, especially a particular myth involving Mir-Susne-Khum, the World Surveyor Man. |
