A video game has raised over $50,000 for aid groups working in Ukraine including the Polish Red Cross and Save the Children.
In 2021, a pair of Polish computer game designers produced a free video game based on the works of American sci-fi author H. P. Lovecraft, and it went on to become a “significant success.”
Then the following year, Russia invaded Ukraine in a war that has devastated parts of Poland’s southern neighbor. Though the game, titled Dagon: by H. P. Lovecraft, is free, the game’s developers, Bit Golem, released several pieces of downloadable content for small charges.
Downloadable content allows people who already own a game to buy additional features, stories, and activities to augment the standard game version. These small funds allowed them to amass a $50,000 donation to humanitarian aid groups working in the conflict zones of Ukraine.
“We debuted Dagon in 2021 as a narrative experiment and our first non-commissioned game,” writes Bit Golem. “It became a significant success, and as of the latest transfer, together with you—players from all over the world—we have collected over PLN200,000 / $50,000 for charity (organizations such as the Polish Red Cross, Polish Humanitarian Action, Save the Children, or Voices Of Children) Thank you!”
In total, 1.7 million people have downloaded the game, and at the moment, the three downloadable pieces of content are available on sale as a package for $12.00 with all proceeds continuing to go to these groups.
The game itself is literally a visual novel, with almost no gameplay to speak of aside from clicking around and reading parts of H. P. Lovecraft’s novella of the same name.
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“As players navigate murky waters, both literal and metaphorical, they unravel the mysteries lurking beneath,” writes one of 10,000 reviewers of the game on the Steam gaming database.
“This interactive experience immerses you in a world teeming with eldritch secrets and unfathomable terrors. Dagon’s compelling storyline, coupled with its accessibility(Free), makes it a must-play for fans of horror and interactive storytelling alike. Dive into the depths of madness with “Dagon” and prepare to be ensnared by its chilling embrace.”
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The book Dagon, written in 1919 and published in the sci-fi-fantasy magazine Weird Tales!, was one of Lovecraft’s core works that explored his fictional mythology of the Old God, Cthulu, a Godzilla-sized beast that sleeps under the ocean.
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