Playing Kafka

Imagine waking up to a world where you are arbitrarily arrested for no reason. You go to work, but the people around you seem unfamiliar. The burden of your upbringing has left you with an overwhelming sense of guilt. This is the world of Playing Kafka, an adventure game that deals with the disconnection of modern society and unresolved family conflicts. This game is inspired by the absurdist works of Franz Kafka, created in collaboration with leading Kafka experts.

The game poses various questions such as: can you win an unjust trial? Is the job you were working real? Can you break free of your father's ever-present shadow? It's a game that presents you with more questions than answers, and the player must navigate their way through a maze of unclear rules and machinations to proceed.

Playing Kafka features fully immersive and narrated stories, based on Kafka's three works: The Trial, The Castle, and Letter to His Father. The game is designed to bring the characters and environments to life through atmospheric puzzles, fateful decisions, and drag-and-drop gameplay.

The game presents about 1.5 hours of the story in an ever-changing setting. There are three chapters in this game, each based on one of Kafka's books:

The Trial
You arrive at an opaque legal trial and are gradually drawn into a quagmire of perplexing bureaucracy. As the verdict looms over you, you must decide how to approach the obscure and insidious accusations. You have to choose whom to ask for help and how to communicate with judges, procurators, and other characters in the story. Do you have any hope of defending yourself, even if you are innocent?

Letter to His Father
This chapter is based on Kafka's unsent letter to his father and deals with the fraught relationship between father and son. In this part of the game, you have to find the right words to help Kafka come to terms with his upbringing. The game also takes you through scenes from the past where Franz struggles to connect with his father. Can you bridge the gap between father and son?

The Castle
You come to a snow-covered village to work as a land surveyor, but quickly realize that the village is not as it seems. The locals whisper of the forbidden Castle, and each day raises more questions than answers. Will you ever gain entry to the unattainable and mysterious Castle?

This game was developed to commemorate the centenary of Kafka's death and was created in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, Prague. Moreover, the game's Chinese version was initiated and supported by the Czech Center Taipei. Join us on this immersive adventure and explore the surreal and visionary world of Franz Kafka!