Title of the work
Studio / Production Company
Country of the First Edition
Country/countries of popularity
Original Language
First Edition Date
First Edition Details
Coffee Powered Machine, Okhlos. Microsoft Windows, OSX, Linux. [Directed by Sebastián Gioseffi and Roque Rey Ordoñez.] Austin, Texas: Devolver Digital, August 18, 2016.
Platform
Available Onllne
Trailer Available Online: youtube.com (accessed: August 20, 2018)
Genre
Action and adventure video games*
Roguelike video games*
Target Audience
Crossover
Cover
We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.
Author of the Entry:
Joanna Bieńkowska, University of Warsaw, joanna.bienkowska@student.uw.edu.pl
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com
Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk
Coffee Powered Machine (Studio)
Coffee Powered Machine is an indie studio founded in June 2014 in Argentina (accessed: July 6, 2018). It consists of two people, an artist and a programmer. Okhlos is their most popular game so far.
Prepared by Joanna Bieńkowska, University of Warsaw, joanna.bienkowska@student.uw.edu.pl
Translation
The game is available in various languages under the same name.
Summary
Okhlos' protagonist is an unnamed philosopher, enraged with the gods' indifference towards mortals and their well-being. The breaking point comes with the destruction of the School of Athens (obviously based on Raphael’s famous frescoes) - one of the Olympians crashes it with his foot, leaving almost no survivors. The only one left alive, the philosopher, says "enough!" and mobilizes the Athenians to overthrow Olympus' cruel regime and start a new life with freedom that no god can guarantee by forming an ochlocracy - the mob rule.
The game offers an original and interesting gameplay – the player begins with one philosopher and can recruit other Athenians to his mob, up to 25 people in total (or more, depending on the upgrades). The philosopher keeps the mob integrated; when he dies and if there is no other sage to replace him, the game is over. The player, to go further, has to control the philosopher and the mob simultaneously and kill every enemy on the map. Then, in order to proceed to the next location, they have to face one of the gods.
The starting area is the agora, where the player can choose heroes to join their fight – there are many to choose from. Then they get to explore different cities and mythological places – Delphi, Ephesus, Sparta, Athens, Lemnos, Hades and finally, Olympus. Homer, a blind and a little forgetful poet, is the narrator
A total number of 153 various special units can be unlocked, among them, mythical, historical and culture-based heroes. Others are loosely referencing many popular culture and historical characters, such as Dracula or Einstein.
Analysis
The game offers challenges and allows the player to face many mythical monsters, e.g. satyrs and medusas. Trojan Horses also can be found during the campaign, as well as minor gods and characters associated with the Greek world, e.g. the oracle of Delphi.
Everything is presented in a humorous manner, offering loose representations of the world of ancient Greece with a bit of modern liberalism, e.g. gender and race equality. Due to a great number of characters, none of them gets more than a one- or two-sentence long description.
Other notable aspect of Okhlos is the contents of the heroes’ shouts that appear written above their heads both in Greek and Greek-inspired Latin alphabet, with words in Greek and in English respectively.
As many people agree, Okhlos' strong point is the impressive number of historical, cultural and mythological references to ancient Greece. It consists of the most well-known aspects of these times, still present mainly in the popular culture. These references are simplified, developed mainly to create a facade over an interesting type of gameplay. Taking into account the simplicity of the data presented in the game, two conclusions emerge: Okhlos has strong educational values and at the same time – it does not require from the user a vast knowledge of the ancient times in order to understand the basics, this the reason why it can be played by both children and adults.
Addenda
Commercial Success:
Gained medium popularity: store.steampowered.com (accessed: May 24, 2018).
Rewarded with: "Best Gameplay" Big Festival 2015, "Official Selection" The Leftfield Collection, EGX Rezzed 2015, "Best In Show" Meet the Games 2015, "10 Most Promising Titles" EVA 2015.
Genre: An indie action rogue-like video game with elements of strategy and comedy.
