Jonas Kyratzes
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Jonas Kyratzes is a German-Greek
video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipline ...
and author of
video game industry The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , ...
related articles.


Career

Kyratzes' games are known for breaking with convention and being heavily story-driven. Several of his games are thematically interconnected, often by the recurring figure of
Urizen In the mythology of William Blake, Urizen () is the embodiment of conventional reason and law. He is usually depicted as a bearded old man; he sometimes bears architect's tools, to create and constrain the universe; or nets, with which he ensna ...
(first mentioned in ''The Great Machine'') and other themes related to or inspired by the work of
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
. With his wife, he created The Lands of Dream, a setting for many games, a book, and stories (see Stories below) he and his wife created. He also has an interest in film, and in January 2009 he wrote and directed a short documentary about the
2008 Greek riots The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos ( el, Αλέξανδρος Γρηγορόπουλος), a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by a special officer in Exarcheia district of central Athens. The kill ...
called ''The Greek Riots: Some Basic Facts''. Jonas was born in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
to a Greek father and a German mother, and raised in
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. He has written several articles on video games, often advocating the concept that games are an art form. He is also politically active on the internet, blogging about political issues and co-founding the Wikileaks Stories game-making initiative. He describes his political stance as left-wing. He lives in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, (Germany) with his wife, Verena.


Games

* ''Last Rose in a Desert Garden'' (2000): Fatalistic but very short, which takes place in the aftermath of a
nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...
. * ''The Infinite Ocean'' (2003, 2010 remake), deals with the concept of
existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
, centered on a sentient computer. * ''The Great Machine: A Fragment'', an experimental work of
interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
about the horrors of war. * ''The Museum of Broken Memories'' (2006), which also deals with themes relating to war, but is made up of a number of interrelated story fragments. * ''The Strange and Somewhat Sinister Tale of the House at Desert Bridge'' (2009), a humorous fantasy with melancholic undertones, set in the Lands of Dream. * ''Phenomenon 32'', a post-apocalyptic 2D exploration
platformer A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...
set in an alternate universe. * ''You Shall Know The Truth'', a political game about
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
*''Alphaland'' (2011), a platformer set inside an unfinished (alpha) game. Terry Cavanagh is credited as a programmer. * ''The Book of Living Magic'' (2011), another game set in the Lands of Dream, in which a girl named Raven Locks Smith leaves the town of Dull to find The Book of Living Magic. * ''Arcadia: A Pastoral Tale'' (2012), another work of interactive fiction (a text-based game). * ''The Fabulous Screech'' (2012), a Lands of Dream installment expanding on the feline character it is named for, whom was first introduced in The Book of Living Magic. * ''Traitor'' (2012), Kyratzes' most mechanic-based game, a vertical shooter about a mercenary's role in a growing revolutionary conflict. * ''
The Sea Will Claim Everything ''The Sea Will Claim Everything'' is a point-and-click adventure game, the first commercial video game from design team Jonas and Verena Kyratzes. Written by Jonas Kyratzes with graphics from Verena Kyratzes, it is the fourth game in their ''Lands ...
'' (2012), his first commercial game, involving another Lands of Dream scenario where a biotechnological dwelling called Underhome must face foreclosure. * ''Moonlight'' (2012), a surreal text-based game that contains Stephen Fry, Oscar Wilde, Alpha Centauri, eagles, and many more things. * ''The Matter of the Great Red Dragon'' (2014), a text-based Lands of Dream game * ''
The Talos Principle ''The Talos Principle'' is a 2014 puzzle video game developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. It was simultaneously released on Linux, OS X and Windows in December 2014. It was released for Android in May 2015, for PlayStation 4 ...
'' (2014), hired as a writer by
Croteam Croteam is a Croatian video game developer based in Zagreb. The company was established by Davor Hunski, Damir Perović, Roman Ribarić and Dean Sekulić, four former classmates, in late August 1992. Croteam is best known for ''Serious Sam'', a ...
* ''A Postcard From Afthonia'' (2014), his latest Lands of Dream game, in which the player helps out a cat and a dog, who are married, during a war. * '' Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope'' (2017) * ''
Phoenix Point ''Phoenix Point'' is a strategy video game featuring a turn-based tactics system that is developed by Bulgaria-based independent developer Snapshot Games. It was released on December 3, 2019, for macOS and Microsoft Windows, for Stadia on Janu ...
'' (2018), developing the narrative and stories for Snapshot Games. * ''
Serious Sam 4 ''Serious Sam 4'' is a 2020 first-person shooter developed by Croatian studio Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. It is part of the ''Serious Sam'' series and a prequel to '' Serious Sam 3: BFE''. The game was announced in April 2018, ...
'' (2020) * ''
The Eternal Cylinder ''The Eternal Cylinder'' is an adventure-survival open-world exploration video game developed by ACE Team and published by Good Shepherd Entertainment. The game was released on September 30, 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One ...
'' (2021) * '' Clash: Artifacts of Chaos'' (2023) * ''
The Talos Principle II ''The Talos Principle 2'' is a puzzle game, puzzle-adventure video game, adventure video game developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. A sequel to ''The Talos Principle'' (2014), the game was released for Windows, PlayStation 5 and ...
'' (2023)


Book

*Στη σκιά του Αόρατου Βασιλιά (In the Shadow of the Invisible King), (2013) is currently only available in Greek. It takes place in the Lands of Dream.


Stories

Jonas has "collected" many stories that take place in the Lands of Dream. They are all illustrated by his wife, Verena. The stories are found in ''The Oneiropolis Compendium'', the ''Wanderers' Tales'' (stories written by other authors that "traveled" to the Lands of Dream), and ''Likely Facts'', excerpts from ''The Book of Likely Facts'' (only published in the Lands of Dream), which was written by "Jorrum Dooga."


Future projects

*''Super Omega Land'', another platforming game *''Ithaka of the Clouds'', a Lands of Dream text-based game. This game was originally crowdfunded, but Jonas decided to rename it The Council of Crows. Ithaka of the Clouds became a very different (and less expensive) game than Jonas had originally planned.


References


External links


Official website
*

at Gnome's Lair
Kyratzes YouTube accountLands of Dream official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyratzes, Jonas 1984 births German people of Greek descent German video game designers Living people People from Frankfurt People from Wiesbaden Video game writers