So the Golem (suspend your disbelief here) would’ve been up against da Vinci’s genius designs for early helicopters and other contraptions. It turns out that the ruthless Borgia hired Leonardo da Vinci in 1502 to engineer war machines for his armies, which ostensibly were used in his invasion of Prague. The game will be built using the popular game engine Unity, and you’ll be able to play on a dual-stick controller or on a keyboard and mouse.Ī fascinating historical footnote to the Golem story gave Moonbot the creative source they needed to transform the folktale into an action RPG game. “Despite your incredible potential for destruction, mastering the Golem will be about mastering control of yourself so that you can protect and not destroy the great city that created you.” Ultimately, though, you’re searching for your soul–the one thing that Prague’s five guilds didn’t build for you. “The controls will evolve as the Golem evolves,” explains the studio. Your goal is to learn to control your unwieldy body and emotions. In Moonbot’s version of the story, you take the perspective of the creature Golem. “It’s sort of similar to what Walt Disney would do, go to Europe and find these stories, then adapt them for his audience,” Oldenburg says. Everyone acts as though it’s real.” They shot tons of film, took books of notes, and made reference sketches, which give the game demo an incredible visual authenticity.
“You walk around Prague, and it’s all about the Golem. “We just got deeper and deeper into this story,” remembers co-founder Brandon Oldenburg.
Prague’s Golem, you see, was allegedly built by one Rabbi Loew to protect his community from Cesare Borgia’s invading Papal armies. So, what does the Golem look like in the hands of a studio that’s repeatedly described using words like “magical,” “inventive,” and “genius”? To reimagine the age-old tale, the team flew to Prague and immersed themselves in the city, led by a local Rabbi based in the Jewish quarter. “We could go to a big studio,” says Joyce, “but we’d rather stay independent.” It’s an intentional move–the Shreveport, Lousiana-based Moonbot has always kept its distance from Hollywood. $15 will get you the game (due out in spring of 2015) and access to their production blog, where backers will get to contribute thoughts and ideas about the game design as it progresses. And unsurprisingly, Moonbot is doing things a bit differently to get The Golem made, funding the project through a Kickstarter campaign that ends in March. This year, Joyce and his team will reinvent the Golem once more, turning the archetypal story into a video game set in 16th-century Prague. The team flew to Prague and immersed themselves in the city, led by a local Rabbi.