«I studied philosophy, history of religion, aesthetics. And ended up putting myself in chains. Of my own free will.»

This game is my small and pathetic attempt of an homage to Andrey Tarkovsky’s genius; particularly his “Sacrifice” masterpiece, which was the last movie Tarkovsky has managed to made in 1986 while he was gravely ill and was preparing himself to die and meet his creator. The movie "Sacrifice" ("Offret" is its original Swedish title) is about a man who finds himself on the edge of nuclear war, and he prays to God to stop it all, to save humanity, and promises to sacrifice all he loves in exchange - including his wife and his children. God hears his prayer, and the protagonist’s turn to fulfill his side of the bargain comes very soon after that.

In my game I’ve tried to capture the feeling of realizing that you have a direct connection with God and to translate Tarkovsky’s deep spiritual intelligence into video game narrative logic. You can use keyboard (z to jump, x to attack, shift to dash), though controller is heavily recommended for the full experience. But most importantly, some parts might feel weird and obscure to the people who haven’t watched the movie, so I cannot recommend enough times to mindfully watch it before playing the game. Even if you are not going to play the game, very few activities in the world are as wholesome and potentially life-changing then watching Tarkovsky’s "Offret" masterpiece and his other movies.

If you have kind words to say, please feel free to send them to valentinshatz@gmail.com. Peace. ​