Black Book (video game)

Black Book (Чёрная книга) is an adventure role-playing video game, developed by Morteshka, which created The Mooseman, and published by HypeTrain Digital. The game was released on August 10, 2021.

Taking place in 19th century Russia, the game is heavily inspired by Russian and Komi folklore narrative is based on Bailichkas. To ensure the authenticity in depiction of myths and real-life locations, the developers worked alongside Russian ethnographers.

Gameplay
In the game, players control Vasilisa - a young sorceress, who travels across the landscape of rural Russia, aiding commonfolk along the way. The players achieve that by solving puzzles and engaging in battle using a deck-building card combat system. Throughout the journey, choices made by the player will affect the plot and general progression of the game.

Development
Development of the game started in 2017. The game was released for Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on August 10, 2021. It is the second game developed by Russian team Morteshka. Black Book was designed to bear some connections with the previous game, Mooseman. The game's scope expanded compared to what it was intended to be at the beginning of its Kickstarter campaign.

Reception
Rock Paper Shotgun found that while the card battles were sometimes ill-balanced, they praised the game for its specific approach to Russian folklore, stating that it was where it "shows its heart".