Rise of Cultures celebrates German Unity Day in a unique way!
Rise of Cultures is known for celebrating different cultures from all over the world. However, the German Unity Day questline, which was released exclusively during this time, brings something new to the game. This is in contrast to Forge of Empires where we celebrate St. Patricks Day each year.
Michael Holzapfel or Micha, the Game Designer of Rise of Cultures Team, the team behind this special questline is eager to tell us more about it.
For those readers who may not be aware, the German Unity Day is celebrated on the third of October each year. It marks the reunion of East Germany and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990.
There are also many other national holidays around the world that have greater recognition in the international community, such as the Independence Day of the United States and the Labour Day of Europe.
Why did Rise of Cultures choose the German Unity Day?
Micha: Our game has a wide variety of cultures that are unlocked through technology and can be experienced at our events all year. InnoGames is based in Hamburg, Germany, which celebrates the German Unity Day this year with the “Burgerfest”. We would now like to bring a significant milestone in German culture to our players.
It’s not enough to just set a theme for the German Unity Day. There are still many things that need to be done. What are the steps to bring the questline as we see it in game to life?
Micha: There’s a lot more to it than just picking a theme. We discussed not only the art assets and the workload, but also the quest givers. We also have to balance the tasks of the quests and the rewards the players can obtain – we try to make them challenging and exciting. We already have a process in place to bring everything together.
The questline for German Unity Day is quite different. Can you describe how this questline differs from the usual events that players find in Rise of Cultures, such as the Thai Event?
Micha: Questline events do not require additional mini-games. The quests can be completed at the player’s own pace. There is no requirement to reach a certain event date. It’s important to make these tasks as interesting as possible. We usually reward questline events with a specific event currency, but this is not the case for the questline event. This requires more thought and evaluation.
There are too many historical facts and details to be shared, as well as a lot of pressure on the historians to provide accurate historical information. It must be difficult for game designers to choose what information should be included in the questline, when they have players who are not Germans in mind.
Micha: In the course of my career as a game designer, I had many opportunities to learn about specific topics, such as history, interesting places, famous people, and different cultures. In the past I had to do research on ancient tales and lore! Despite being born in Germany, I did research for the German Unity Day. I had cultural knowledge from my birthplace but still needed to do some research. The quest texts are too short to cover all the information, so I will leave it to the teachers. Maybe some players will do their own research?
How did you feel about the Fall of Berlin Wall, being German yourself? What was the impact of this event on you personally?
Micha: In 1989, I was just starting school and vaguely recall seeing a lot of news coverage about this event. Was it relief or hope that lingered in the air? The Fall of the Wall was also a sign of the global end of the Iron Curtain. Although the impact was not strong on me at that time, it affected me when I grew older. As many young people moved freely throughout Germany, I often visited the “new capital” of Berlin. (The government had been based in Bonn previously) and met great friends and colleagues who were from East Germany. It has become normal for me and my generation to live in an united country, or even continent, where people can move around freely without fear.
Micha, I really appreciate your responses! Be sure to visit Rise of Cultures from October 2 and until October 9 and, 2023! Join the Rise of Cultures Discord Server and leave your feedback on the German Unity Day Questline for Micha’s team!
We recommend the blog post Turning next chapter in Elvenar’ history – Release of Chapter 21 for more interviews with InnoGames’ game designers!
