I am in the process of updating the computer game Fylgja so that it can live on a little longer. It is now 13 years since we released the game and I am happy to say that is still alive and in use. An update to the game has been like an archeological dig in itself.
Fylgja was developed for the City museum of Mölndal with the aim of visualizing the local prehistoric times and during the process I was over all responsible and managing the production, a well as being art director and creative director and jack of all trades graphic artist and animator for the project. In total we were 10 people working on the project, a mix of students from University of Skövde and veteran game developers. It was an amazing project to work on. I learned so much, both about the prehistory, I got to meet all these learned people who generously shared their knowledge about our ancient past, but also about project management and planning a project of this scale.
A fictional adventure in archeological surrounding
How do you make the prehistoric time visible when the traces of it are hidden in the earth? And how do you create an immersive experience for children that is both entertaining and educational about the local prehistoric times?
These were some of the questions The City museum of Mölndal was asking themselfes. It is a small but wonderful museum, mostly their archives is from industrialism and onward as that is the nature of the surrounding of the museum, located in beautiful Kvarnbyn in Mölndal. But they still have an obligation to support the local schools with material to deepen their studies in all local history.
In Mölndal there are several remnants of the prehistoric times, and there are two places in particular that are of great significance according to archeologists. When digging in an area to build new houses, they found hundreds of cooking pits dating back to the bronze age, and nearby they have found remains of what was once a wooden fortress, dating back to the iron age. Both finds indicating that these were at the time places of great strategical and maybe political importants.
There is really nothing to be seen of these places today, they are hidden in the terrain and people passing would. So at the museum they came up with the idea to make a computer game for children that takes place in these surroundings.
Meet Tyra, our young heroine
The story is about Tyra, a young girl who has just moved into one of the newly built houses by the lake. There seems to be som link between Tyra, her mother and the ancient past, and one day a raven turns up and guides her to a mysterious adventure in the bronze age and iron age.
All of the clothes and hairstyles of the characters are based on actual archeological finds. Most of the props. However, when you are vizualising an entire adventure you still have to fill in the gaps in the areas that modern science doesn´t know. I had good help from archeologist and historians in all aspects of the game.
If you want to check out the game you can download it from Mölndals stadsmuseum
There is also a version on IOS and hopefully, if Android are good to me, on google play.