Glory Chronicles, a game that uses Hong Kong in the 1980s as a backdrop, was co-developed by Cheng Lap (upper right) and Ko Chung-kin (lower right). Photo: HKEJ
Playing this game teaches you about Hong Kong, past and present
As the game starts, players are drawn to the Glory Building in Hong Kong by an advertisement for rent of one dollar.
However, when they arrive, a big notice immediately catches their eye.
It says the building will probably be taken back within a few months.
Lady Thatcher, the building’s current owner and president of the Kowloon Neighbors Welfare Association, has appointed the player executive president of the association, the notice says, as she broke her ankle when she fell down the stairs not long ago.
Players have to do whatever they can to protect the building, since rents in other places are unaffordable.
Glory Chronicles is a game that uses Hong Kong in the 1980s as a backdrop.
Players can see planes fly low over residential buildings just like in the good old days.
The game includes hot topics, such as sky-high property prices and social movements.
Players can learn about history and current affairs while they play the game.
Glory Chronicles was co-developed by Ko Chung-kin, founder of Lakoo, and Cheng Lap, the founder of Kowloonia.
The two start-ups were incubated in Hong Kong’s CyberPort.
Lakoo, a developer of mobile games, is now based in Guangzhou, and Kowloonia, a developer of educational games, in Taiwan.
Ko told StartUpBeat that the idea of Glory Chronicles popped up in his mind more than a decade ago, but a game like that had little chance of survival in the market at the time.
With the proliferation of smartphones, the pair believe that now is the right time.
Cheng said they are creating a game with a background that most Hong Kong people would find familiar.
“Not all Hongkongers are rogues, right?” Cheng said.
“It might be the case in some Japanese animations, but we want something more local.
“Apart from the elements of ’80s Hong Kong, we also think social movements are something people are interested in nowadays, so we combined them together to enrich the game.”
Characters such as activist and legislator “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung and the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher have been incorporated into the storyline.
The beta version of the game has received a warm reception among gamers.
It will be officially launched as early as next month.
Before Cheng became a game developer, he taught secondary school some time.
As a teacher, he had a tough time motivating his pupils to study.
But after they learned that Cheng knows how to program games, they started to respect him and listen to what he said.
Cheng then realized he could influence his pupils by joining the game industry.
With a master’s degree in history, Cheng developed the game Age of 1911 in 2010.
It has been downloaded more than a million times.
Wouldn’t it be nice if people can learn history interactively while playing games, he said.
Looking forward, Cheng said he also wants the next generation to have faith in their future.
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