Remember when comic adventures ruled the genre? Those games were filled with quirky characters, laugh-out-loud dialogue lines, and zany outside-the-box puzzling. And best of all, they possessed that most important ingredient: fun. German development studio Deck 13 remembers, and they’ve set out to bring back a little of that magic with their upcoming adventure, Ankh. The game is set in the all-too-familiar locale of ancient Egypt, but an ancient Egypt like you never saw in any history books! With a whole cast of memorable characters, including its adolescent hero, Assil, who sets the plot in motion by using a sacred pyramid to party with his friends, Ankh promises to bring "pure fun” back to gaming, and wrap it up neatly in vivid 3D graphics, while preserving a classic interface. The game has already released to early critical acclaim in the developer’s native Germany, and is due soon for worldwide release. Adventure Gamers was thrilled to sit down with Jan Klose, Creative Director for Deck 13 and project leader on Ankh, for the latest inside info on the game, the company, and even a small glimpse into what lies ahead.


I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with AG about Ankh, and it’s very nice to meet you!

Nice to meet you too! I'm Jan Klose, and I'm the project leader of Ankh. The internal team consists of 13 people, and we've been heavily supported by about the same amount of external people.

As the project leader, what is your role in the development process?

It all starts with creating the game concept. I've been working with the team to create a thrilling story, and then try to bring it to a state where the production becomes realistic. Many ideas have to be cut out, to allow the game to be made and released. On the other hand, the best ideas have to be kept alive, to turn the game into something very special.

Later in the production, my role is to observe the schedule and financial framework (with the support of my partners, of course) and to make sure that the game follows a specific style.

Where did the name Deck 13 come from?

The idea was to have something unique in the name. The "13" is kind of like a "pirate" number, and the "Deck" reminds you of a ship, as well. However, on many ships (and in many buildings), the 13th floor or deck is omitted due to superstition. So our name is meant to show that we're not afraid in anything.

So you guys are developer rebels! How is it working with bhv Software? They seem to be very enthusiastic about your game.

Exactly, that's the idea! We are daring and that's the idea behind our games. They're supposed to be courageous undertakings!

We've been working very well with the guys at bhv Software. It was, and still is, a great time. Which is very good, because although the game is already released in Germany, a lot of work remains to be done!

The current game is actually a sequel to an earlier Ankh game, which featured a lead character named Domi. Will gamers who haven’t played the earlier game be missing out on anything?

It's not necessary to play the earlier game in order to know anything about Ankh. The "new" Ankh is a unique game that stands alone, and the new hero, Assil, is a whole new character.

The basic story for Ankh sees our hero, Assil, get together with his friends for a party in the sacred pyramid. In the process, they unleash some sort of evil curse. While there, Assil takes possession of an object of great mystical power, because he mistakes it for a bottle opener. These events bring him into conflict with the boss of the day, Pharaoh Iphenep. What more can you say about the story?

Assil is a young man who doesn't care much about getting a job and earning money. His father is a rich pyramid architect and Assil is just bored. So he steals the keys to a new pyramid from his father and invites some friends to have a party. However, due to an accident, they wake up the resident mummy who in return curses Assil with a horrible death curse. At the same time, Assil receives the "Ankh", by chance, which is a powerful artifact. His main objective from now on is to get this curse removed.

However, later in the story he learns that there are other important things in life... as you might guess, this new knowledge occurs to him when he meets a very charming woman for the first time. At first, they don't like each other much, but later in the adventure... well, I really don't want to reveal too much!



There have been a lot of games based in or around Egypt, which ranks right up there with Atlantis as one of the most over-used destinations for adventure games. How do you distinguish this game and its locale from that horde?

First of all, Ankh doesn't really take the Egypt setting seriously. If you're after historical facts, then Ankh is definitely not for you. Our aim was to use this magic location and display it in an absolutely different way! You'll encounter the "Camel-O-Wash" center, a fish burger hut, a ferryman who behaves like a New York taxi driver, and many more things that wouldn't fit into any "classic" Egyptian game. It's a bit like Shrek did with the fairytale setting; we took Egypt and turned it upside down!

I like the comparison to Shrek. Are there other inspirations behind Ankh?

Apart from classic adventure games like The Secret of Monkey Island, we've been inspired by recent animation movies like Ice Age and Antz.

I can see the Monkey Island influence. The look of the game is definitely cartoon-styled and similar to Shrek and other recent films.

Yes, we liked the current 3D comic style from those movies very much, and also that "special" look of all of those characters of the Monkey Island series. Everybody has very unique features.