The new video game ‘Flamenco!’, developed by Málaga-based start-up Novelingo, proposes a musical journey through flamenco. It’s a mix of original recordings, anecdotes and a lot of history.
‘Flamenco! invites the player to take a walk through this UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is an educational game with an entertaining journey through what can be considered the geography of flamenco: tablaos, theatres, cities related to flamenco such as Ronda or the workshop of a luthier.
“Hello, excuse me for interrupting you. It’s not that I was spying on you, but I thought I understood that you were interested in flamenco,” says Rafael Flores Nieto, or El Piyayo, historical flamenco singer and guitarist at the beginning of “Flamenco!
From the beginning of the project, the main character was always El Piyayo, an artist from Málaga at the beginning of the 20th century who had a magnetic character, lived a lot on the streets and brought his character to flamenco with joy and Cuban influence, emphasise the creators of the video game.
A legend and the protagonist of a thousand anecdotes, a film was even made about his life in the 1950s.
“He was always presented to us as the perfect cicerone and we have always believed that the real Piyayo wants to tell flamenco stories to tourists. And we want to believe that the Piyayo would have liked our digital doppelgänger,” said José Luis García and Daniel Cañete, CEO of Novelingo.
Other flamenco artists
In addition to El Piyayo, the player, who receives a course on the arte jondo in seven chapters, receives information from more teachers. For example, Edgar Neville, a filmmaker closely linked to the history of flamenco, dancer Maria or the guitarist who has been given the name Paco.
The musical direction of the project is in the hands of Felipe Milano, with the collaboration of guitarist Pepín Naranjo. Recordings were also made in the Peña Juan Breva and in the workshop of the luthier Susana Martín.
A challenge in programming
On the other hand, this project contains new, more complex game mechanics that pose a technical challenge in terms of programming.
One of the tenets of ‘Flamenco!’ is that music is central and prioritises gamifying the learning experience. Moreover, the story is less important. The scenes and characters are the work of the illustrator Sergio Cerón. Furthermore, he has chosen vibrant, friendly and vivid drawings and colours in this project.
Support from the ministry
The video game has been funded with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture through public support for the promotion of the video game sector and other forms of digital creation under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
Presentation in Málaga
Flamenco!” will be presented on September 25 at the Interactive Music Museum of Málaga (Mimma). This museum has a tradition of innovation through its Living Lab, a laboratory for ideas and projects.
Download for free in last week of September
On the occasion of International Tourism Day on September 27, visitors to Mimma will be able to download the video game for free from the official Apple and Google stores between September 24 and October 1.
Also read: Flamenco – Its history and origins