Morteshka

Play as Preservation: Folklore and Mythology in The Mooseman

Caleb Levy's article "Play as Preservation: Folklore and Mythology in The Mooseman" argues that Morteshka's 2017 game is a meaningful case study in cultural preservation, reconstructing Komi-Permian mythology from Permian animal style bronze castings and grounded in academic research and museum consultation.

• Caleb Levy's article argues that Morteshka's 2017 game The Mooseman is a meaningful case study in cultural preservation, reconstructing Komi-Permian mythology from Permian animal style bronze castings and grounded in academic research and museum consultation.
• The article frames the game at the intersection of game studies, folkloristics, and heritage studies, situating it against the Komi people's history of Christianization, Russification, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century folklore collection.
• The author argues the game's mechanics cast the player as someone who influences rather than dominates the spirit world, using slow-moving spirits, puzzles requiring foreknowledge, and a cross-referencing in-game encyclopedia to produce what the author calls "exegetic play."