Kremlingames

Kremlingames is an indie game development cooperative founded in 2014. They specialize in making geopolitical strategy games in which the player is given the opportunity to rewrite the history of the Soviet Union (USSR) and other countries.[1][2] The studio is co-owned by Maxim Chornobuk and Vasiliy Kostylev, with other members contributing to important decisions.[3][1]

Kremlingames
TypeStudio
Founded2014 (2014)
MembersMaxim Chornobuk
Vasiliy Kostylev

Kremlingames has created several games[4] including Crisis in the Kremlin (2017), Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall[5] and China: Mao's Legacy,[6] in which players control the Soviet Union, one of the many Eastern European communist states, and the People's Republic of China (PRC), respectively.

Kremlingames is a bilingual developer, releasing games in both Russian and English. Their games tend to revolve around managing a country politically and economically during the Cold War. They are currently working on a new game titled Collapse: A Political Simulator.[7][8]

Games

Crisis in the Kremlin (2017)

Kremlingames' first game, Crisis in the Kremlin, is a remake of a game of the same title created in 1991.[9] The player acts as the leader of the Soviet Union.[10][11] Unlike the original, the goal is not just to preserve the USSR and the Warsaw Pact but to expand the communist bloc. In this game, it is possible to win the Cold War by weakening the United States until it no longer is a superpower. The game introduced additional factions and multiple endings that include perestroika, world communism, and parades of sovereignty. The economic, domestic, and diplomatic systems were made more complex.[12][10]

Since its release, Crisis in the Kremlin has been updated regularly with downloadable content (DLC), including Homeland of the Revolution and The Accident.

Development and reception

The original version of the game was on the FireURQ engine but shortly before the site was opened in March 2015, it was ported to GameMaker. Since 2016 the game was developed on the Unity engine.[13] [14] By February 2016, a schematic system of internal politics permitted the establishment of doctrines and adoption of laws. Foreign policy was presented in the form of a detailed map of the world (Europe, Asia/Oceania, Africa, and both Americas) with buttons for interaction with countries, doctrines, and events, as well as indicators of relations with the United States and China.[2] The game had the ability to reform the Soviet government, budget allocation, and detailed statistics.[15] The game is turn-based: the player modifies policy, changes the budget, and moves on to the next month via an event.[16]

On March 20, 2017, the game was available for purchase on Steam.[17]

It received overwhelmingly positive feedback on Steam and is still considered by many to be the most popular and best developed of Kremlingames' projects.[14][18][15]

On August 22, 2017, The Accident DLC was released, which saw players take control of the Soviet Republic of Ukraine.[19] Its storylines include the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident and Gorbachev's implementation of Perestroika.[20]

Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall

In the summer of 2017, with the unexpected success of Crisis in the Kremlin, Kremlingames began work on Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall. It was based on an earlier game simply titled Ostaglie.[14][21] Like its predecessor, it followed the events of the Cold War and focused on the nations of the Communist bloc in 1989–1990. Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall diverged from Crisis in the Kremlin in several ways. It operated in real-time with new functions to expand diplomacy and create buildings.[3] The player could play as East Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, or Romania in the base game with each expansion adding more nations, each having its own unique struggles.[22] It was released on Steam on March 25, 2018.[5]

The player can either accelerate or prevent the collapse of the socialist camp. Players made decisions regarding strengthening their leftist regimes or reforming government.[23] The game also allowed players to help the conservatives in the PRC and the USSR to roll back or accelerate reforms.[24]

Since its release, Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall has had several expansions including Legacy of Hoxha (adding Albania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia) and Fall of the Curtain (adding North Korea, Cuba, and Afghanistan).[25][26]

The game and its expansions have received positive reviews from Metacritic and players on Steam.[5][27]

China: Mao's Legacy

China: Mao's Legacy is a political strategy game released in 2019.[6] It follows the People's Republic of China from 1976 to 1985 in the turbulent period during and after the death of Mao Zedong.[28] The game focuses on maintaining the country both economically and politically while preventing a non-peaceful transfer of power.[29] Players are faced with numerous choices, such as whether to invade Vietnam, imprison the Gang of Four, integrate Hong Kong, interfere in various skirmishes, and restore relations with the USSR.[2] All parameters of China can be controlled—its political system, economy, army, special services, family policies, doctrine of Freedoms, and much more.[2]

The game featured a new system of politicians, including actual Chinese politicians as well as game-generated characters.[30] The fate of these characters' careers is entirely under the player's control.

Development and reception

China: Mao's Legacy began development in Spring 2018. It was developed using the engine of its predecessor and used the economic functions of the DLC The Accident from Crisis in the Kremlin. The game was released on Steam on May 25, 2019.[6]

The game has received, in general, positive feedback from players on Steam[6] but was blocked in the PRC for featuring events critical of Chinese reformers and its inclusion of Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang.

Euromaidan

Euromaidan was dedicated to the Ukrainian crisis.[31][32] The first version was based on the FireURQ engine and had a radically different graphic design and code. Euromaidan became a full-fledged game in 2015 after being transferred to the GameMaker engine.[14] The player can play as the legitimate President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, or contenders for his position during the Euromaidan demonstrations.[32] The game was similar to Crisis in the Kremlin but with multiplayer capability. With its transition to Gamemaker, graphics performance improved significantly while maintaining replayability.

The first version of the game in many ways brought fame to the company and enjoys a certain popularity among players, spreading "from hand to hand."[14]

Kremlinocracy

Kremlinocracy was released in 2015.[14][33] The source of inspiration for Kremlinocracy was the psychological verbal game "Mafia," invented by Moscow State University student Denis Davydov.[33] The player's goal is to seize power and maintain it for at least three years.[14] There are three featured scenarios:

  1. The death of Lenin,
  2. The death of Brezhnev, and
  3. Alternative Russia, where Medvedev continued Yeltsin's policy.[14][31]

Empire: Paths of History

Empire: Paths of History (Russian: Империя: Пути истории) was initially planned to have Soviet, German, American, and Chinese campaigns; however, the latter two were replaced with a Perestroika campaign and a script editor.[34][14] The player has access to the statistics of the country and the opportunity to choose between candidates for the presidency, with the corresponding consequences—in the German company there was a choice between the Ost plan and the Ribbentrop plan, and in the campaign dedicated to Perestroika, reform options are offered. The game was noted for having decent graphics but low replayability due to the small number of options.[35]

The Collapse

The game-novel Collapse was announced immediately after the release of Crisis in the Kremlin.[14] The player assumes the role of a KGB officer in the midst of the events of 1991 (following an alternative branch of history where, despite the failure of the State Emergency Committee, Gorbachev and the leaders of the republics signed a new Union Treaty, which intensified the destabilization of the country) who must investigate the death of an important officer of the state security agencies. Kremlingames suspended and then froze its development indefinitely to focus on Ostalgie. In September 2019, the project was officially terminated.

See also

References
  1. "Kremlingames". en.kremlingames.com. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  2. Tierney, Sean (2020). "毛的遺產·我的國". GAME ON：歡迎進入遊戲世界 (in Traditional Chinese). Translated by 楊靜 (Traditional Chinese ed.). Hong Kong, People's Republic of China: Initium Media. ASIN B08P326RSM.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  3. Rashcroft (23 May 2019). "An Interview with BrutalPin of Kremlingames, developers of "Crisis in the Kremlin" and the…". Political Simulators Unite!. Retrieved 27 January 2021 – via Medium.
  4. http://en.kremlingames.com/
  5. https://store.steampowered.com/app/774091/Ostalgie_The_Berlin_Wall/
  6. https://store.steampowered.com/app/950740/China_Maos_legacy/
  7. "The Collapse: A Political Simulator (english teaser) - YouTube". www.youtube.com (Video). Kremlingames. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2021 – via YouTube.
  8. "Collapse: A Political Simulator on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  9. Lessel, Alon (5 April 2017). "Crisis In the Kremlin Review". Steam Shovelers. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  10. Сабуров, Сергей (23 March 2017). "Когда всё может пойти не так: обзор «Кризис в Кремле» — Офтоп на DTF". DTF (in Russian). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  11. Millerbertinho (17 May 2017). "REVIEW: Crisis in the Kremlin". Save or Quit. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  12. 南戈 (31 March 2017). "《克里姆林宫危机》：历史永远出人意料". 知乎专栏 (in Chinese). 触乐. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  13. Borman (19 March 2015). "Кризис в Кремле: Крах Империи. Мое мнение... - Borman — КОНТ". cont.ws (in Russian). Retrieved 4 February 2021 – via KOHT.
  14. Age of Kings (4 October 2017). "Другие игры компании Kremlingames". Сообщество Империал (in Russian). Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  15. Васильев, Никита. "Crisis in the Kremlin". kiozk (in Russian). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  16. Bagatin, Luca (22 July 2017). "Crisis in the Kremlin: un videogame sugli ultimi anni dell'Unione Sovietica » Pensalibero.it". Pensalibero.it, Informazione laica on line (in Italian). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  17. "Crisis in the Kremlin on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  18. Васильев, Никита (30 March 2017). "Обзор Crisis in the Kremlin. А как вы развалите Советский Союз?". www.igromania.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  19. "Crisis in the Kremlin: The Accident on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  20. Age of Kings (27 August 2017). "DLC The Accident - обзор. - Кризис в Кремле: Крах Империи - Экономические Стратегии - Библиотека". Сообщество Империал (in Russian). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  21. "Обзор Ostalgie | Симулятор ГДР - YouTube". www.youtube.com (Video) (in Russian). Канал Макса & Co. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2021 – via YouTube.
  22. "Ostalgie The Berlin Wall скачать (последняя версия) игру на компьютер". gofrag.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  23. Bagatin, Luca (26 March 2018). ""Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall": un videogame strategico e geopolitico che fa rivivere la fine della Guerra Fredda » Pensalibero.it". Pensalibero.it, Informazione laica on line (in Italian). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  24. Age of Kings (15 December 2019). "Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall. Обзор - Кризис в Кремле: Крах Империи - Экономические Стратегии - Библиотека". Сообщество Империал (in Russian). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  25. "Ostalgie: Legacy of Hoxha on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  26. "Ostalgie: Fall of the Curtain on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  27. "Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall". Metacritic. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  28. Сообщество Империал (30 March 2019). "Китай: Наследие Мао - Предрелизный обзор Предварительный обзор новой игры от Kremlingames". Yandex Zen (in Russian). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  29. Инди (30 March 2019). "Китай: Наследие Мао - Предрелизный обзор — Инди на DTF". DTF (in Russian). Рома Офицеров. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  30. "«Китай: Наследие Мао». Новая текстовая игра по эпохе 70-80-х выйдет весной". ЭКД (in Russian). 11 January 2019.
  31. "Kremlingames — Русский эксперт". ruxpert.ru. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  32. "Эвромайдан (Незалежна Україна) - YouTube". www.youtube.com (in Russian). Большой Брат. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2021 – via YouTube.
  33. "Kremlincracy| Симулятор партийных интриг". www.youtube.com (Video) (in Russian). Большой Брат. 27 March 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2021 – via YouTube.
  34. Erich (25 November 2015). "Империя: Пути истории — Новости — Игры — Gamer.ru: социальная сеть для геймеров". www.gamer.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  35. "Пути Истории.rar" (RAR). Yandex.Disk (Video Game). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
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