Rude Awakening: Game on in Bitola, North Macedonia

Macedonians got their game on, during the promotion of the video game Rude Awakening in Bitola. On the 15^th of September 2021, the Macedonian Centre for Photography organized a multimedia promotional event in the newly restored Manaki Cinema in the historical center of the city. The idea? Raising awareness and knowledge on World War I, and the game developed during the “Rude Awakening” Project.

“We made an educative videogame about the First world war without firing a single bullet” as said during the presentation, the game sends a message of peace not war. The event was organized on the anniversary of the Battle of Dobro Pole, that changed the course of the WW1 on the Balkan territory. The date was symbolically chosen in order to remember the past while looking at the future.

“We made an educative videogame about the First world war without firing a single bullet” as said during the presentation in Bitola

Respecting the sanitary measures, the Manaki cinema was filled with total of 45 persons, from which 30 youngsters, representatives of the Museum of Bitola, the State Archive, different CSOs working in the field of WW1 and finally the Mayor of Bitola, Natasa Petrovska.

After a screen presentation of the project and the game, youngsters were divided in groups and were able to try the game on the computers. Even though the game seamed easy at the beginning youth generations had tough time to finish it and gradually getting more exited the more they played.

This event attracted major media coverage and picked the interest of many institutions and organizations. The Manaki cinema continued to organize game sessions with the local elementary schools and high schools, and several institutions in North Macedonia are interested to feature the game in their activities.

Starting in September, the game will be available in all museums of project partners in Austria, Slovenia and North Macedonia. It will be available in five languages: English, Italian, French, German and Macedonian, with four levels of play for five hours. The game will be available online in early 2022

ALDA is very much glad to be part of this project, to spur young generations to increase their knowledge on key historical facts… without forgetting to have fun!