Attentat 1942

Attentat 1942 is a story-based game focused on uncovering a family's story of survival during World War II. The main character's grandfather -- a survivor of the war-- is in hospice care. With his grandfather ailing, the grandson wants to learn more about his family history. The game plays out a bit like a mystery, with the grandson talking to various people in and outside of his family, piecing together parts of the story -- from his family being separated by the Nazis to his father being sent to a concentration camp. The player chooses locations to visit on a map of the city, each leading to a series of live-action, first-person video interviews. This works kind of like the dialogue portions of a role-playing or adventure game. The player chooses a question to ask, watches a video of the person answering the question, and then chooses another question. Sometimes earlier choices become unavailable after a choice is made; usually talking to one person will open up an option to talk to another person.

Flashbacks occur at certain points in the story. These break from the live-action video and take the shape of an animated comic or mini-game. The activities vary from ordering the panels of a comic strip to finding hidden objects in a scene to just examining objects on a table. 

Attentat 1942 is a mature game -- not only because the topic is mature, but also because it requires a mature attitude from players. For students to get the most out of the experience, they'll need to explore how the story is historically meaningful and important as well as a cautionary tale for today. Attentat 1942 sets up this learning opportunity, but it'll be up to educators to appropriately prepare students and facilitate post-play discussions and activities that draw these connections.

While it's an interesting, well-produced game, it's also relatively short. This is great in terms of classroom viability, but in terms of the game itself it means that the mini-games appear just once. Since some are relatively shallow, it would've been more compelling to repeat the best ones rather than change the puzzle mechanic each time. This is a minor quibble, though. In terms of difficulty, it's well-tuned for students of different skill levels. Nothing students do is particularly difficult, so everyone can finish, but those who do well get some extra story detail and depth. This is all tallied and displayed, encouraging players to play again if they want to get the full story.