This cosy video game takes you to a Russian dacha for an afternoon nap

A sunny wooden home, filled with daintily-pattered wallpaper, lacy curtains, and Soviet dolls… You’re in It’s Summer, a video game immersing you into the snug atmosphere of a Russian countryside dacha.

Designed by Russian poet and multimedia artist Ilya Mazo and Grun Studio, the game is driven by nostalgic memories of the creators’ school summer holidays, when, like many city kids, they tried to escape the heat by retreating to their families’ countryside homes. “[The] dacha, an afternoon nap, slumber, a vinyl record has stopped playing and is crackling, you are eight years old(...) there’s no meaning or endgame here,” they say, describing the game.

It’s Summer follows Mazo and Grun Studio’s It’s Winter, a game recreating the mundane experience of a Russian commuter town during one quiet, snowy night.

“Winter’s anchors were zen, minimalism, glitch,” Mazo told The Calvert Journal. “Summer was born from the concept of an afternoon nap at a dacha. That means simplicity, nostalgia, childhood, babushka, losing the track of time.”

Both games are based on Mazo’s short, haiku-like poems, and are part of multimedia art projects that include short films, music videos, and albums.

The game will be available on Steam later in June 2021.