Say hello to One Eyed Kutkh, an imagined world of what eastern Siberian fairy tales would be like if they were about space travel. Yeah, space travel! We follow our plucky hero, One Eyed Kutkh, aptly named because it is a one eyed alien, as they get lost on Earth while traveling home. The game description sums up the mission best:

“…to get to ninth heaven, deceive the Sun and the Moon and steal their space-boats.”

The story of One Eyed Kutkh is based on traditional folk tales woven delicately into original fiction. The fiction part is based on up to date knowledge of the universe that serves as the backdrop. Saint Petersburg developer Baba Yaga Games is responsible for this adorable mix of culture and astronomy. You can watch the game trailer below!

The studio’s artist and co-founder Lyuba Nurmukhambetova would serve as the catalyst for the idea. Lyuba spent her childhood in Siberia, immersed in the culture and stories. It was her knowledge and collection of stories that would spark the interest. The studios other co-founder, Asya Yurina had this to say about Lyuba:

“She has a lot of books with fairy tales, myths, about shamanism, about folklore and rituals, which we used in our work.”

The world for their game is inspired by the “World Tree” from the culture of Siberia. The difference would be that players could travel between worlds by rocket, and the people could move from planet to planet. So while there are elements of fairy tales within the base of the game, the changes suggest that Baba Yaga Games doesn’t intend for the game to be educational or a complete representation of the culture. Yurina had this to say about the games liberties:

“We just hope that our players will try to look at the world through the eyes of the men of this culture, learn to see the poetry and warmth that seems cold and distant to most of us.”

Yurina and Lyuba originally wanted to make One Eyed Kutkh a puppet show, as they have a background in puppetry and theater. Once they saw the potential in videogames, the decided it would be better served as an adventure game. The studio believes that videogames can achieve certain connections with their audience better than other mediums. Yurina sums it up perfectly:

“Theater stage is very limited space, and it’s a challenge for the artist, but now we would like to simply do everything that [comes] to mind, without thinking about the size of the stage and the presence of the required lighting equipment. Also, the format of the videogame allows us to communicate directly with our audience, making it a part of the story. We believe that the main advantage of videogames as an art form over all others is a direct dialogue with the player.”

Baba Yaga isn’t a stranger to video game development. Their first game was an education app called “It’s Spring Again” and was released last year. Both games share a similar sketeched art style. While the game is still in development, it should be available on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android once finished. If you’re interested in checking it out, you can play the online demo of this point and click adventure here, and while you’re at it vote for it on Steam Greenlight too!

What do you think about indie games that are starting to include cutlutre in their stories? Would you play One Eyed Kutkh? Sound off in the comments below.