Adagia: Philosophy Combat is an Educational game based upon free interpretation of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.
Adagia (singular adagium) is the title of an annotated collection of Greek and Latin proverbs, compiled during the Renaissance by Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus. Erasmus' collection of proverbs is "one of the most monumental ... ever assembled" (Speroni, 1964, p.
About
The game tells a story of an arduous journey through a world inhabited by famous philosophers of the past.
The story begins with Valentine, the protagonist, having a nervous breakdown, while preparing for an exam in philosophy. As a result he slips into a coma and wakes up in an underworld inhabited by philosophers.
On the surface it is a story of a student's adventure in an imaginary world, but on a deeper level it is a struggle to obtain knowledge and comprehend some of the most influential ideas of the human history.
The story begins with Valentine, the protagonist, having a nervous breakdown, while preparing for an exam in philosophy. As a result he slips into a coma and wakes up in an underworld inhabited by philosophers.
On the surface it is a story of a student's adventure in an imaginary world, but on a deeper level it is a struggle to obtain knowledge and comprehend some of the most influential ideas of the human history.
The structure of the game world is similar to one, described in the Divine Comedy. The world envisioned by Dante consists of circles of Hell, mount Purgatory and celestial spheres of Heaven, while the game world is composed of thematic levels set in chronological order.
The Protagonist
Traveling chronologically through the levels which allegorically represent various philosophical schools and traditions, Valentine has to face famous philosophers of the past and fight them to continue the journey.
In a battle against the supreme intelligence of the Philosophers Valentine has to try to recall some of the lectures he attended at the university and exam questions he remembered before his blackout.
In a battle against the supreme intelligence of the Philosophers Valentine has to try to recall some of the lectures he attended at the university and exam questions he remembered before his blackout.
Each enemy-philosopher has a number of attacks, which allegorically represent his philosophical ideas.
For instance, Plato attacks Valentine with shadows from the Allegory of the Cave, Marx attacks him with Lenin's proletarian army, and Freud - with Valentine's childhood nightmares. At the same time Valentine's attacks are some of the exam questions he managed to remember before slipping into coma and skills he receives as a reward after defeating a Philosopher. Each time a player has to choose wisely which attack to use against certain Philosopher.
For instance, Plato attacks Valentine with shadows from the Allegory of the Cave, Marx attacks him with Lenin's proletarian army, and Freud - with Valentine's childhood nightmares. At the same time Valentine's attacks are some of the exam questions he managed to remember before slipping into coma and skills he receives as a reward after defeating a Philosopher. Each time a player has to choose wisely which attack to use against certain Philosopher.
