The earthling has such a strange pronunciation that even artificial intelligence reaches its limits. The “language mix of this species”, reports the computer, is “challenging” for the translation program. Would you like an example? “For the sake of death, I can catch the old bastard!” Scolds the Earthling, whom such a person might recognize as a hunter. “I promised that to St. Hubertus!”
In terms of art and culture, Bavaria has often had to endure a lot. Film and television in particular have a passion for clichés, for the peculiarities of the country and its people, or what the industry thinks they are; because the portrayed do not always feel well hit. In this respect, it is overdue for the Free State to finally become the scene of a computer game. “Plan B from Outer Space: A Bavarian Odyssey,” it says. Not much is known about it yet. The first minutes can be played in a demo version, the Cologne-based developer studio Robot Pumpkin Games is announcing autumn 2021 as the release.
The hunter is, as much can be guessed and revealed, one of several characters in the game. And of course it is oversubscribed. The “Bavarian Odyssey” is intended to entertain, not to be material for local and general studies; the game is advertised on the Steam game platform as an “intergalactic comedy adventure”. Ultimately, it’s about exploring extraterrestrial worlds, just the other way around. An alien wants to fly home, but is shipwrecked on an unknown planet. So it goes in search of energy and spare parts – and has to deal with the strange creatures of the little village “Unter-Hinterobersbach”. Better not get the alien. Fortunately, it’s a shapeshifter.
The action of the game is advanced in text blocks. It is up to the players to decide which action to take. The game regularly presents a choice. Do I hide the UFO so that the “Baybaren” do not steal any parts or even worship the vehicle as a deity – or do I think of a name for the planet first? Do I play a cute puppy so the hunter doesn’t get suspicious – or do I pulverize him with my blaster?
Dialect games are successful with the audience
Depending on the decision-making process, the developers promise, the players should end up at one of 19 ends. To what extent this motivates you to play through and continue playing is difficult to say based on the demo version. If text-based adventures offer too little action in principle, you might get bored. On the other hand, those who devoured the horror book series “Goose Bumps” in their youth may remember the wild turning back to the last decision in order to prevent the protagonist from suddenly passing away.
One more thing remains. “Mia haven’t had any luck hunting for the last 931 times,” complains the hunter. Some might interpret the representation of Bavarian in a similar way – although it is an old controversial question how non-High German can best be expressed in German in writing. For some, the fun starts here, while for others it is already a hole. The only thing that is undisputed is that so-called dialect editions are quite successful with the audience, as a look at the comic section shows, among other things: Asterix and Obelix or Mickey Mouse and Goofy have long been denying individual adventures in Bavarian. Seen in this way, “Plan B from Outer Space: A Bavarian Odyssey” could catch up here for the games area as well, which is customary in other areas.
The demo of “Plan B from Outer Space: A Bavarian Odyssey” can be found on Steam, an account is required to download it.