DIKTATURA

What you are about to experience, is based on the testimonies of individuals who lived during the Albanian dictatorship, whose voices you will encounter throughout the game.

You, however, are entirely fictional.

INTRODUCTION

The player-character begins the day inside the office of the Secretary of the Party for the fictional Neighbourhood 31, populated by individuals who experienced the Albanian dictatorship. During the timeframe of the game, Albania is isolated from the rest of the world and the Party controls everything, even what people think. Currently, to cover a shortage in food, the Party is forcing the belief that eating fish with cheese is poisonous. Citizens, however, are convinced they live in the happiest country in the world. 

The player witnesses the work of the Secretary from his point of view as he oversees his neighbours, with separate vignettes when he profiles each character. His ultimate goal is to produce a file for each neighbour. 

Research for The Secretary's Office

Research for Shemo's Room

DYSTOPIAN NON-FICTION

Besides exploring each true story, the player will follow the parallel narrative thread of the Secretary of the Party, the goal of which is to simulate the feeling of being a real character inside the story and take the audience on an emotional journey.

ART DIRECTION

The visual approach of the prototype is different from the teaser because we have been working on creating a distinct style for our project. We are now exploring an approach inspired by Propaganda posters from communist Albania and the Soviet Union. 

Research for The Trial

COMMUNITY

In a simple narrative read-through test we conducted during Games for Change Festival in July, a player imagined Volunteer Musician to be a musician that was caught, but then decided to volunteer and spy on others to avoid going to prison. This showed that Diktatura is not a story we are telling , but a story we are sharing with our audience. We want that after playing, our audience will be creating theories, and our worlbuilding process will encourage it.

TEST OUR PROTOTYPE!

In this short demo, you will get a glimpse of how the narrative of Diktatura unfolds. You will first enter the office of the Secretary, while the testimony of Shemo will take you to an Albanian communist home. Once inside, Shemo's real photographs, together with footage from the dictatorship, fill the computer generated house. There, the voiceover of Shemo will guide you around, as you learn about his life in the dictatorship, while at the same time, trying to make an antenna to capture Italian radiowaves. 

HOW TO PLAY

Here's a very short guide if you get stuck:

1. Move with WASD / or use W to go forward and move your mouse.

2. Pick up objects with E

3. Make the antenna