So, the next (17th) edition of Polish variation on Game Chef is on. The rules are: use two out of three ingredients and make a game with it. Write it in a week. Read through the other games and give feedback.
The three ingredients are:
- atavism,
- rats,
- gothic,
First question to ask is: what are the semantic fields and radial categories for those terms? What is being evoked by those terms, how to grind them into a game. So, what do we get from those?
Atavism - it's prehistoric, a thing that is revealed (or hidden), a connection to our animalistic ancestors. Tail, claws, squeaky squeaks, gills - or legs, if you're a fishy fishy fish. Something that is preserved in DNA, like a backdoor to a previous form. Canine teeth, extra nipples. Sometimes it occurs due to inbreed, eugenics and other kinds of genetic manipulation. Sometimes it's like a mutation, creating a super-being, either hero (Spiderman) or a monster (Vulture). In a society and culture - atavism is something primitive - connecting into clans, aggressive behavior, inbreed, incest, feudalism, paganism or the degeneration of a formerly great empire (due to atavistic instincts of the new generations). Regression, degeneration, sickness.
Rat - rodent, pest, carrier of the Disease. Black Death, rats leaving the sinking ship. Rat is a snitch, a grass, a nark, a dog, a stoolie, a fink - a police informer, who sells you just for the cup of coffee. Lab rats are test animals that can escape and bring the pestilence. Rat is a food in Asia. It's a first animal in Chinese zodiac. It's traits are: creativity, intelligence, honesty, generosity, ambition, a quick temper and wastefulness. A rat-trap over the head in Orwell's 1984. A sack with hungry rat placed over a prisoner's head in series of Vietnam movies with Chuck Norris. Brothers Grimm's Piper of Hamelin. But remember - there is a Splinter - a wise ninja and a mentor to the Ninja Turtles. Also, there are a lot of rat pets in the households, in those numbers the Rat from the Joey the Barbarian comics.
Gothic - or gothick - XIII century. Thick walls, dark cellars. Wet, rusty chains with skeletons in it. Soaring towers and churches. Raw light filtered through the magickal art of stained glass. Chivalry, armour, breastplates, helmets, kleinodes, blazonry, helardly, coats of arms. Cold castles. Shit on the roads. King Arthur and his knights, the Lady of the Lake. Norseman. Vikings.
Also - gothic music. Cold wave, new romantic. Thick maquillage, white and black. Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, the Birthday Party, Joy Division. Antihuman aura. Negation, nihilism. Anti-punk. The birth of electronic music. Style that exhibits literary romanticism, morbidity, religious symbolism, and supernatural mysticism. Vampires.
Gothic novel - Castle of Otranto, the Monk. Gothic revival in the Victorian Era.
Damn. Too much bricks. Need to trim it down.
l.