''Ragnarawk'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

created for the 2007

Dare to Be Digital Dare to be Digital is a video games design competition targeted at university students and recent graduates, started by and held at Abertay University, Scotland since 2000. Teams (typically of 5 university undergraduates or fresh graduates) work ...

video games development competition. The self-proclaimed 'GuitaRPG' combines RPG-style gameplay with a

Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead guitar, lead, bass guitar, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match ...

-style input system. The

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

explores a musically themed world fighting enemies using an enchanted guitar. The demo version that was released consisted of a Victorian-styled level featuring enemies loosely themed around classical music. Basic enemies consisted of monsters playing harps, flutes and violins, as well as a hidden

mid-boss In video games, a boss is a significantly powerful non-player character and computer-controlled enemy created as an opponent to players. A fight with a boss character is referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stro ...

that rewarded the player with a new guitar after its defeat. The final battle in the demo takes place in a church, against a monster called Morgan, who battles you using a corrupted church organ. ''Ragnarawk'' was developed by Voodoo Boogy, a team of 5 students from

Abertay University Abertay University () is a public university in the city of Dundee, Scotland. In 1872, Sir David Baxter, 1st Baronet of Kilmaron, left a bequest for the establishment of a mechanics' institute in Dundee and the Dundee Institute of Technology w ...

, 2 from the Computer Games Technology course, and 3 from Computer Arts. In the 2007 Dare to be Digital competition, the game was judged to have the most commercial potential, as well as winning the Audience Award. Ragnarawk was singled out as 'one to watch' by the 2007

British Academy Video Games Awards The BAFTA Games Awards or British Academy Games Awards are an annual British awards ceremony honouring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry. First presented in 2004 following the restructuring of the BAFTA Interactive E ...

, and also won the Interactive category at the Scottish Students on Screen awards held in Glasgow on 14 March 2008.

External links

Do you Dare to be Digital?
IGN story discussing Ragnarawk.
Guitar game takes design prizes
BBC News story about Ragnarawk's Dare to be Digital awards.
Ragnarawk Trailer
YouTube video from the creators. Guitar video games Indie games Music video games Role-playing video games {{music-videogame-stub BAFTA winners (video games) 2007 video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom