Developer IMGN.PRO used a real-life event as the creative inspiration for their exploration-based horror game Kholat. Known as the “Dyatlov Pass Incident,” the situation involved a group of Russian students going missing in the Ural Mountains during a ski trip in 1959. (The term ‘Kholat’ refers to the slope where they made their final camp.) The students were found outside their tents with fractured skulls and broken bones, though without an apparent struggle.

It’s a chilling story, and the makers of Kholat took care to write an open-world game that places players in a situation that occurs years later but one that reveals aspects of the actual tragedy. Of particular note is the fear management system, which assesses the player’s current experience and shifts the game around her.

The game doesn’t take an obvious route of simply recreating it, but there exists within its confines a historical spectre that goes beyond the normal horror gaming experience.

The game’s writer Lukasz Kubiak was kind enough to answer some questions about the inspiration behind Kholat, which is to be released on June 10, 2015.

BD: What initially drew you to the source material for Kholat?

When we started to think about creating our first game, we decided that it will be a climactic story with some thrills. While searching for the inspiration, we reached out to multiple sources, myths, and Polish legends. The latter are especially fantastic, and we still have a lot of ideas connected with them, which we may use someday.

In the end, however, the Dyatlov Pass Incident story was the one that instantly made us shiver. We have found out about it at while looking into information about Soviet experiments. It was an excerpt from the article, suggesting that the events from the pass could be the result of military weapons testing.

BD: What specific Aspects of the Dyatlov Pass Incident intrigued you?

I think awareness of the fact that it is a true story. There are tons of creepy fictional stories, but even the most terrifying can’t be compared to something that happened for real. We are naturally afraid of the unknown and the Dyatlov Pass incident is just such a thing. Number of theories built up around this incident also deepens the feeling of anxiety.

BD: How much inspiration did you take from the real-life Dyatlov Pass incident when creating Kholat?

First of all, we put in the game full story of the Dyatlov group journey in a form of a diary, which cards can be found on the map. In addition we have included more or less direct references to some of the theories built up around this event.

The game also contains locations inspired by real places. Of course we had to add a large number of things invented by us, to make the game interesting and to avoid monotony of the landscape. Therefore, every time we emphasize – Kholat is not a documentary game, as there are books, articles and videos that took care of that aspect already. Our game is simply based on real events motives.

BD: What sort of research did you end up doing?

We are acquainted with a large number of materials related to the event like articles, studies, reports or photos. We saw almost all of the programs on this topic, as well as maps, we have analysed most of the theories. At the end we have created our own version of the story, set in our version of the world.

BD: What made you think it would be an interesting idea for a game?

Primarily our hunch. We are players ourselves, we like games with a big narrative layer, where the story itself is most important. We are convinced that this is a good direction. Most of all, we wanted to try something different, original. I think the effect is sensational.

BD: How close to the actual Ural Mountains / Dyatlov Pass is the game’s environment modeled? In other words, is it map-accurate, or did you take liberties with how it looks?

In order to make the game interesting and compelling for players, we had to go toward fiction. To tell the truth, if we stick to only real places, players could start to get bored soon — it would be just too monotonous. Imagine moving for an hour, two or three, climbing up the mountain, covered only with snow, where there are few trees.

Therefore, we emphasized that Kholat is not a documentary game. This is work of fiction based on a true event. Of course, it does not mean that we won’t see some real places, or some elements taken from the real world. The railway station, the ruins of the radar, the distinctive hunting cabins, Mansi tribe sculptures, characteristic rock formations, and finally a place where the Dyatlov’s tent was found – it is all in the game.

BD: Could you talk a little bit about working with Sean Bean?

It was a sensational experience. Sean Bean is a great actor — he was super professional, despite the fact that his role in Kholat was quite small compared to his movies. He played it exactly as I pictured it in my head. Of course, the whole process of negotiating and establishing the details with his agents was quite laborious, but it is a normal thing with an actor of this class.

We had a small amount of time for the recording. Sean’s agents told us that he would be in London for just two days and we had to adjust. We had to change all our plans and book the plane immediately to adapt to his schedule.

BD: Kholat labels itself a horror game. In what ways will the game Represent the genre?

LK: That’s not entirely true; we always say that Kholat is an exploration game with elements of horror. Kholat is all about the atmosphere. It’s the main factor when it comes to building tension or feeling of danger. On the other side, it does not mean that you won’t approach something that will force you to run, or to hide.

Scares are present in Kholat, but they’re not the most important thing. I like to refer to the Blair Witch Project, in this case. It’s a movie that keeps the tension all the time only by means of atmosphere. That is my ideal kind of horror.

BD: What can players expect to see and do as they explore the game’s world?

LK: The main challenge for the player is to find a way in the environment around him. The map is filled with all kinds of passages, various ways, caves, and forests. It won’t be easy, especially at night. There are some fast travel points scattered on the map — we are not heartless! — but the exploration itself is a major challenge. There are also additional notes hidden at various places. Finding them is not necessary to finish the game, but it’s worth doing – the effects may be surprising.

BD: Aside from exploring it, how have you handled making a world that players can interact with on a deeper level?

First of all, the player is mortal and not safe. He must be aware of different risks: Cracking ice on the lake, falling rocks, abysses. After all, we are throwing the player into quite an inhospitable environment.

BD: Will there be combat? If so, would you mind revealing some details about it?

There is no combat; you can either escape or hide. But I can assure you that the game has a fairly high level of difficulty, in terms of avoiding dangers and exploration itself. In this aspect, perhaps Kholat bears more resemblance to Dark Souls than to Dear Esther.

BD: I see that players who pre-order Kholat will receive a digital comic as a bonus. Can you tell us more about it?

I would rather avoid revealing all the details beforehand. It is quite a specific story, seemingly unrelated in any way to the events in the game. But when the players will dive into the story of Kholat, they will also understand what happened in the comic.

BD: About how long will the campaign take to complete?

The game should take between 4 to 6 hours, depending on how much the player will soak into the world, and whether he wants to collect all additional materials hidden on the map.

BD: Are there any plans for DLC or any sort of post-release support aside from patches?

We definitely have planned one round of DLC; it’s something not directly related to story from the original game. But we really want to present it to players, because the storyline will be more understandable after you finish the original plot, so it perfectly fits the idea of DLC. Rest assured – if the DLC comes out, we are going to give it for free to all players who bought the original game. Also if Kholat is going to be well-received we’ll think about the sequel.

BD: Will Kholat have controller support?

Sure – the game officially supports the Xbox 360 controller. All the other gamepads that are recognized in Windows system will work too – we also provide the possibility of rebinding the keys.

BD: Anything else you’d like to mention?

We recently managed to convince Mary Elizabeth McGlynn to work with us on the Kholat soundtrack. You may know her as a beautiful voice from Silent Hill series. And of course please remember that Kholat release is drawing close – June 10, 2015.

Greetings to the readers of Bloody Disgusting!