A-Maze Submission Kit
Hello, please find below the submission points for our game "Chaos", thanks!
1. Playable game
Please click on the following link to the game's Android Play Store page for download and installation:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.BaiusGames.Caos&hl=en
2. Installation Instructions
Not necessary, just download and install directly from the Play Store.
3. Playing manual and documentation
a) Playing Manual - Not necessary, there is an in game tutorial, and you can always revisit it by pressing pause in the game.
b) Documentation-
Context
Caos ( Spanish for “Chaos”) is an essential element of a project called “8 Bit Shrapnel”, which encompasses two complementary works, this 10 level video game, available for mobile devices ( and as a one of a kind 80’s full size arcade), and "8 Bit Shrapnel" a 9 minute live action short film. The two pieces are interwoven as they share the same leading characters and universe. Each of them can be experienced independently, but when combining them, the story expands and is assimilated by different processes, aiming to awaken a wide and lasting range of emotions in the players/viewers.
The short film, "8Bit Shrapnel", is based on actual events that happened to a close friend of mine. It invites the public to travel back in time to 1990 in Colombia, the peak of the war between the Drug Cartels and the government. The story follows three neighborhood kids on a fate laden Saturday, when their carefree universe of video games, soccer, ninjas and music, is viciously disrupted by the explosion of a car bomb in a shopping center they visit. This terrorist attack was carried out by the Medellin Cartel, headed by Pablo Escobar. One particular aspect of this project, is that it is not told in the traditional Capo's perspective, it is told via the eyes and imagination of an 11 year old kid, totally disconnected from the troubles of the times, but right in the middle of them.
In recent times, films and TV series like “Narcos” portray a Robin Hood-like image of Escobar, glorifying the villain, much suited for entertainment. As locals, we felt the point of view of our generation was missing from this conversation, this is the first project about the era that gives voice to the young victims, the survivors, perhaps the true heroes of the tale.
"Chaos", the video game, is a reinterpretation of a 1986 arcade hit game, where the player controlled monsters, whose mission was to reduce cities to rubble. At that time, Pablo Escobar ( El Jefe in the game) and Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha (El Mero), were wreaking havoc via terrorist activities against the civilian population. What better analogy to what was going on in reality, than larger-than-life characters destroying cities? Specially if you look at it from a kid’s perspective. That is the concept behind the development of "Chaos", a historic recollection, where each of the 10 levels represents a real terrorist attack perpetrated by the Medellín Cartel. The last two levels are particularly important for the project, level 9 represents the car bombing of the shopping center where the three aforementioned neighborhood friends and lead characters of the project got injured. And level 10 is more personal yet, as it represents the unsuccessful attempt to bomb my school. I was in fifth grade at the time, and so was the granddaughter of the president of the country. She was the target. Fortunately her bodyguards deactivated the bomb, and no one was hurt. This is the reason why the game has an unexpected turn of events; as a player you loose control of El Jefe or El Mero, and the three kids that you have been chasing become the final bosses. They attack the giant with their particular weapons: soccer balls, musical notes, and ninja stars. In a unique feature of the game, it becomes clear that you can never beat the game, your reign of terror was good for nothing. A lyrical ending for a hectic game. The kids overpower violence, survive and press on as they did in real life. They represent the youth of my generation.
The overall project explores shifts in perspective, as in the short film you are the victim, and in the video game, the perpetrator. It deals as well with the loss of innocence, the forced change from the world of kids to the adult world, and although it is a story from a couple of decades ago, it resonates and is relevant today worldwide, as terrorism keeps mutating, changing it’s face and geography, leaving innocent victims such as children in it's dark path. In its own way, this project is a grain of sand against it.
Below you can find the short film of the project, we suggest watching it prior to playing the video game.
It was created as a VR experience, but it can be experienced in traditional 2d..
Vimeo Video Password: 8BIT
Photographs from "Chaos" Physical 80's arcade, at Medellin's Comic-Con 2017.
Video Game Credits
Caos is rendered in beautiful 8 Bit style animation, illustrated by the Colombian artist Mierdinsky, catering to the nostalgia of the era, the programming and music was developed by Juan and David Cepeda at Baius Games, it was produced by Bogotá Digital Cinema, and created by Felipe Aguilar.
Presentations
This project has been selected / presented at :
Filmgate Interactive Media Festival, 2017, Miami, USA
Comic-Con 2017, Medellín, Colombia
Cinemateca al Parque 2017 Bogotá, Colombia
Salón De la Fantasía y El Ocio 2017, Bogotá, Colombia
Bogoshorts Film Festival 2017, Bogotá, Colombia
Press about the Project .... in spanish only, sorry :(
This completes our submission information, thanks!
Felipe Aguilar,
February 2018
felipe@bogotadc.tv