From September 23 to October 2, 2026, a nationwide student expedition took place at the «Yasnaya Polyana» country estate and reserve in the Tula region. The expedition was supported by the programs Reopening Russia, Russia—The Country of Opportunities, and More Than a Trip. Students from the HSE Art and Design School, ITMO University, RUDN University, IMLI RAS, and Moscow Polytechnic participated.
About the Game
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 visits the places the writer frequented every day. At the end, the player receives an invitation to visit Yasnaya Polyana in person.
Third-person browser game, a 2D visual novel with point-and-click elements. The game is available on the website.
Achieved Results
The expedition resulted in a video game posted on the official website of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum Estate, as well as a series of materials from the participants:
UI Design in the Project
I, Veronika Korneva, and Varvara Zaitseva designed the UI for this project. We are both students at HSE Art and Design School.
This expedition drew me to the Tula region through excursions. Participating in the project development will provide a strong case study for my portfolio.
During the expedition, I learned a great deal about my country’s culture—specifically, the history of Tula, the military feats of the people of Tula, and the life and literary work of L.N. Tolstoy.
Working on this project with a team of students from different majors and various universities provided valuable experience.
I received the technical specifications from the game designers and the game assets from the artists. From these, finished in-game screens were assembled. Based on these screens, I developed the interface: • I selected the color palette; • I chose the shape and placement of buttons and windows; • I prepared the interface assets for the programmers.
The game interface has two versions: one for PC and one for Mobile. During development, we took into account the specific characteristics of each platform and the desired player experience.
PC version UI (left). Small, closely spaced buttons. Mobile version UI (right). Large buttons, spaced far apart. Large text font size.
A Day in the Life of Leo Tolstoy. UI Example in a Dialogue Scene.
One Day of Leo Tolstoy. UI example in gameplay scene.
