Black Book is a card based adventure-rpg developed by Morteshka and will be published by HypeTrain Digital. Black Book deeply roots its world in Slavic mythology and folklore. The game follows a young sorceress Vasilisa as she battles dark forces across the 19th century Russian countryside in search of the titular black book.
The story centers itself on Vasilisa, who dedicated her like to magic and dark forces, choosing to become a witch. She later ditches her destiny to marry her beloved, who dies from suspicious circumstances. She then ventures out to find the black book, which is powerful enough to grant any wish, and release all seven seals. Along the way she helps common folk and battles creatures from Slavic myths.
As Vasilisa travels across old Russia, she will be forced to solve puzzles that relate to Slavic culture at that time. As a sorceress Vasilisa can unlock new spells which manifest at spell cards to be used in combat. She can also summon and command various hordes of demons. The demons will torture Vasilisa out of boredom if they are not commanded to preform a task.
The demons and mythological creatures are all based around northern Slavic tales, which were recreated with the help of anthropologists. Black Book will also have an encyclopedia to flesh out the monsters and their stories.
With our games, we want to prove that little-known myths and stories from different parts of our world can engage and excite gaming fans all over the world—even today.
Developer Morteshka said Black Book puts a heavy emphasis on “historical and cultural accuracy.” The villages encountered in Black Book are based on real villages from the 1800s and with the assistance of ethnographers, they strive to recreate the culture as accurately as possible.
Black Book does not have a release date and will only be available on Steam.