Great interest in Cyphers Game exceeded our wildest expectations

Sunday marked the end of one of the biggest gaming events in the world – PAX East Boston trade show. The interest in the Cyphers Game exceeded our wildest expectations. Queues lined up at the IPN (Polish Institute of National Remembrance) stand. Check out what players from all over the world said about the game.

For four days at the end of last week, Boston became the thrilling hub of the gaming world. Premieres of the biggest titles, competitions of leading streamers watched live by tens of thousands of people, networking with leading game developers… In these conditions, IPN held the premiere of the Cyphers Game – a groundbreaking project combining education with entertainment and the latest technologies. Players from all over the world could sit back in their armchairs and, with a pad in their hands, take part in events that really happened and that changed the fate of a real war.

“The people who played our game couldn’t believe that it was created by an institution that wants to establish a dialogue with young people in this way. They were delighted with the idea. We heard from the people involved that it was a very good direction”. – says Adrianna Paradowska from the IPN Office of New Technologies.

Download Cyphers Game from Steam

Cyphers Game on Steam has already attracted 19,000 followers, and the number continues to grow. From the start, interest in the project was also very high at the Boston trade show. And the number of people willing to play the game only grew during the following days of the fair. In total, more than 2,000 players visited the IPN stand.

“There were more people than we ever could have expected. We spoke to hundreds of people. Most applauded us when they heard that we wanted to show real history, using the language that young people use every day” – says Adrianna Paradowska.

What exactly were the players talking about? Here are some statements collected at the event:

• • „This game, it’s a lot of fun. I’m a big fan of wargames and I always enjoy the historical side of games”.
  • „It was difficult, but it’s worth playing it again”.
  • „It was hard to find some things at first, but once you understand that you have to look in every nook and cranny, the fun starts”.
  • „The game is really beautiful. The art looks great. It feels good just walking around. It looks like an intriguing mystery”.
  • „I liked how the game was set in history. And the fact that it’s not easy to solve a puzzle when you’re trying to change the course of history”.
  • „Historical accuracy is a great element of this game, I love that aspect!”
  • „I like puzzles. And this one was great!”
  • „It was great fun. A fun adventure game”.

„On Steam for free, are you serious?”

A game like no other

Cyphers Game was presented not only to amateur gamers, but also to people working in the gamedev industry: from programmers to marketers. They all stressed that they had never before come across a project that so faithfully reproduced historical events. The gameplay more than once provoked players to talk more deeply about the events of that period.

“The interest in the game and the desire to further explore the themes raised in it is a clear signal to us that our action makes sense. We are moved by this. We are doing this for young people. It is great to observe how enthusiastically they react to our initiative” – says Adrianna Paradowska.

Players also appreciated the visual and sound design. They were very impressed with the storyline, which describes fascinating but widely unknown achievements of Polish cryptologists and events crucial to the fate of the war one hundred years ago.

Download Cyphers Game from Steam

The event from behind the scenes

The event, which for a few days gathered the whole gaming world in one place, was for IPN an opportunity to exchange experiences with other creators. The New Technologies Bureau participated, among others, in a meeting of the game dev industry from Poland with the local community and students, organised by Indie Games in Venture Café in Cambridge. IPN was one of a dozen exhibitors from Poland in Boston. Most of the developers were showing demos of their games, as previews of titles that are likely to come out later this year. Among other Polish proposals was a game about rebuilding the world after World War II.

For a few days, Cyphers Game can be downloaded for free on Steam, where it received about 80 percent positive reviews. The game is also available on AppStore and Google Play. It can be played in VR goggles, on Windows PC and on mobile devices (on Android and iOS). Each version of the game offers a slightly different type of experience, ranging from the most “absorbing” VR to a simplified but universally accessible mobile version for which the mechanics, controls and graphic settings have been adapted.