Czech appeal: Use of local themes and settings by a national game industry

In the last decade, there has been an observable trend in Central European countries to produce computer and video games using local themes or settings, possibly thanks to the massive success of Witcher 3 (2015), a Polish game with overt references to Polish folklore and culture.

Locally themed productions include games as diverse as the Polish horror adventure The Medium (2021), taking place in the ruins of a socialist-era hotel near Krakow, or the Austrian open-world action role-playing game Dungeons of Hinterberg (2024). In this talk, I will present the results of research that included developer interviews and game analyses and focused on the following titles: 1428: Shadows over Silesia (2022), Hobo: Tough Life (2021), HROT (2023), Last Holiday (in production), and Someday You’ll Return (2020).

Unlike the foreign games set in the country, which mostly take place in Prague, these games are often set in peripheral regions of Czechia, providing a refreshing view of the country’s landscape, architecture, and cultural heritage. The developers choose local themes because of easier access to refence material (practical motivations) and because it allows them to tell more personal stories (artistic motivations). Although almost all these games are ultimately targeted at an international audience, local themes become something that the local community can bond over, providing support and press coverage that can be critical in the early stages of production, when developers seek collaborators, funding, or simply encouragement. Although most copies of games made in the region tend to be sold elsewhere, local voices therefore have an important say in shaping their production.

Jaroslav Švelch is an associate professor of media studies at Charles University, Prague. His first monograph Gaming the Iron Curtain: How Teenagers and Amateurs in Communist Czechoslovakia Claimed the Medium of Computer Games (MIT Press, 2018) traces the hidden histories of home computing and gaming in the former Soviet bloc. His second book Player Vs. Monster: The Making and Breaking of Video Game Monstrosity (MIT Press, 2023) offers a cultural history and critique of monstrous antagonists in computer and video games. He is currently conducting research of local game production in the Czech Republic. This talk is based on an upcoming article co-authored with Jan Houška (Charles University).