Folklore-Driven Representations of Femininity in Slavic-Coded Video Games: The Figure of Baba Yaga

This paper examines how Baba Yaga, the ambiguous figure of Slavic folklore, is represented in a selection of Slavic-coded video games published or announced between 2015 and 2025. The author approaches the character as a lens on femininity and ageing, drawing on cultural gerontology and the double standard of ageing. The analysis covers eight titles, including Eventide, Yaga, Black Book, Blacktail, Reka, Scarlett Deer Inn, Night is Coming, and The End of the Sun, some of which were assessed through paratextual materials or demo versions because they remained in production. The inquiry compares folkloric depictions, scholarly codifications, and contemporary popular-culture renderings, with particular attention to visual design, gameplay function, and the character's agency within each game's world.

The study's central interest lies in whether playability, the capacity of games to let players interact with a story, alters or preserves traditional Slavic tropes. The games vary considerably in how they use the figure. In several titles Baba Yaga serves only as a marketing-oriented reference with limited narrative weight, while others make her a central presence or a playable character. Across the sample, the author identifies a range of strategies, from conventional repetition of established folk motifs to creative reappropriation of them.

The preliminary findings point to a consistent pattern: old age is rarely foregrounded, even when Baba Yaga is cast as a helper. In some games she is rendered youthful in appearance or is simply young, while in others her aged features are treated comically or are designed to evoke sympathy through frailty. The characters holding the most agency are invariably young-coded. The author concludes that although cultural fields are increasingly sites where ageing is renegotiated, deeply rooted assumptions about elderly women remain largely stable in these representations.