“Some memories can never be forgotten.”

PLAY THE DEMO (OR BUY THE FULL GAME)

FIND US AT THE FESTIVAL

Tuesday 10/209am-10am (Pacific Time)Brukel on the Indiecade Twitch Stream (live)
Tuesday 10/209pm-10pm (Pacific Time)Brukel on the Indiecade Twitch Stream (rebroadcast)
Wednesday 10/21 12pm-1pm (Pacific Time)Ask Me Anything on the Brukel Discord
Thursday 10/2212pm-1pm (Pacific Time)Bob is one of the speakers on “Empathy as Activism

→ On the weB

TRAILER

ARTIST STATEMENT

ABOUT BRUKEL

Brukel is a first-person exploration game based on the actual memories of my 92-year-old grandmother, as she narrated the entire game. In the game, you take pictures of what remains of her abandoned childhood home, but you will end up uncovering the dark, traumatic events that she had to fight through as a teenage girl.

SCREENSHOTS

They were sitting in a shelter when a German soldier barged in and ordered them to flee: “Stay away from Brukel! We are going to light it on fire and everyone inside will die!”
– Bie Verlinden

FAQ

How can I play the game at IndieCade? Check out the demo on Brukel’s Steam or Itch.io page and try it out for free.

How long does the game take to finish? People typically finish the game in 30-90 minutes. It is intentionally a short game so that you can play through it in the same timespan of a movie. You will probably not get to hear every story in one playthrough.

Is that really your grandmother’s voice? Yes! The full audio recording of Bie reminiscing is over 5 hours long in total. She cannot act at all, so every story you hear is authentic.

Is the game historically accurate? Everything is based on my grandmother’s memories. The game therefore accurately matches her subjective recollection, but there are likely to be factual inaccuracies.

If you would like to learn more about the family, the town or its history, check out our Brukel background information guide.

Is there a mobile, console, Mac or Linux version? Not at the moment, but I would love to port the game one day.

What does “Brukel” mean? It refers to the land on which my grandmother grew up. It’s a muddy area with a high quality silt underground perfect for farming potatoes. She lived there in an old farmhouse that was built prior to 1315 and became a protected monument more recently.

How does your grandmother feel about the game? She loves the game but she always felt that her life was not that meaningful. Needless to say, it absolutely blew her away to see Brukel go viral on Imgur and receive international press.

I am a teacher. Can I use this in my classroom? Please do! Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if I can help you.

I am a journalist. Where can I find the press kit? The game has a press kit at IndieDB.

BIE’S MEMORIES

Check out two memories that did not make it into the game.

PREVIOUS AWARDS AND HONORS

2020 Belgian Game Awards
Serious Game of the Year
Best Debut Game
Audience Award
Nominated for Best Narrative Game

2019 Smithsonian American Art Museum Arcade
Official Selection

2019 Dutch Courage XL
Official Selection

2019 International Serious Play Awards
Gold Medal: Games for Good

2018 Meaningful Play
Runner Up for Best Digital Game

2019 Akron Art Museum
Official Selection

2019 IEEE Gem
Official Selection