Leo Tolstoy’s Day | Game Design and Art

A Day in the Life of Leo Tolstoy—an interactive journey through Yasnaya Polyana. The player searches for Leo Nikolaevich throughout the estate, learns about his daily routine, and tours the places the writer frequented every day. At the end, the player receives an invitation to visit Yasnaya Polyana in person.This is a third-person browser game featuring 2D visuals in the visual novel genre with point-and-click elements. The game is available on the website.

Achieved Outcomes The expedition culminated in a video game hosted on the official website of the Yasnaia Polyana Museum Estate, as well as a series of participant materials: A Day in the Life of Leo Tolstoy | Game Design A Day in the Life of Leo Tolstoy | Game Design and UI A Day in the Life of Leo Tolstoy | UI A Day in the Life of Leo Tolstoy | Sound Design A Day in the Life of Leo Tolstoy | SMM

As part of the project, I was responsible for the game design of three interactive scenes: a bird puzzle, a cafeteria scene, and a final quiz. I developed the game mechanics, interaction rules, and progression logic to ensure each mini-game was accessible to a broad audience while simultaneously helping to reveal the plot and the unique aspects of Leo Tolstoy’s life.

For the bird scene, I developed a memorization and sequence repetition mechanic. The player had to pay attention to both auditory and visual cues simultaneously while the sequence gradually increased in complexity. The mechanic was linked to the task of familiarizing the player with the Yasnaya Polyana space.

In the cafeteria scene, I designed the mechanic for assembling Leo Tolstoy’s breakfast. Food options appear sequentially at the top of the screen, and the player must select the appropriate items to assemble the breakfast onto a tray. In this way, through simple gameplay interaction, the player becomes familiar with Tolstoy’s daily habits and preferences.

For the final quiz, I developed a game mechanic centered on the literary heritage of Leo Tolstoy. The player must either complete a quote or assemble a coherent phrase from a selection of words, gradually tuning into one «frequency» with the writer. The quiz becomes part of a dialogue with Tolstoy, linking the in-game action to the central theme of his literary work.

I was responsible for creating part of the in-game backgrounds for the project’s gameplay scenes—from developing the visual concepts to rendering the final images. The backgrounds were designed considering the structure of the point-and-click game, and they needed to not only set the atmosphere but also support player interaction with the objects.

For the first scene, I designed a background featuring a natural landscape view of Yasnaya Polyana. The space is constructed around the tops of birch trees along the promenade, among which are hidden birds—objects the player interacts with during the puzzle. Visually, the background establishes a serene atmosphere of a walk and introduces the player to the estate’s nature.

For the second gameplay scene, I created a stylized map of Yasnaya Polyana. It features key landmarks and interactive points that the player engages with while completing the lost object search task. The visual solution is rendered as a hand-drawn map to emphasize the diverse locations within Yasnaya Polyana.

For the cafeteria scene, I designed the room’s interior and the play area featuring a table and tray, referencing an existing, real-world location. The central composition leaves ample space for arranging breakfast elements and makes the interactive play visually clear. The background also helps convey the feeling of everyday domestic life within the estate.

For the desktop scene, I designed a study background featuring folders and materials related to Tolstoy’s correspondence. The main visual elements include the writing desk and several folders containing letters, which simultaneously establish the atmosphere of a workspace while supporting the color-sorting mechanic. The composition is structured so that interactive objects immediately stand out against the surrounding environment.

For the final quiz, I created a dedicated background that combines a portrait of Tolstoy, a text area, and the answer options. The composition is structured so that the player’s attention sequentially moves from the character to the quote and the interactive buttons. The visual design supports the feeling of a personal dialogue with the writer and concludes the interactive segment of the route.