Being Faust : Enter Mephisto

Being Faust : Enter Mephisto refers to an interactive mobile game developed by South Korean gaming outfit, NOLGONG and Goethe-Institut Korea.

Development

The game's development was commenced in 2014. Playwright Benjamin von Blomberg of Theater Bremen was involved in the game developed by NOLGONG and Goethe-Institut Korea. The official launch of the game was held at the Seoul Metropolitan Library in South Korea on September 2014.

The game's central theme is values and is designed in a way which makes the player evaluate their own values and the things they are willing to do in order to satisfy these.

Gameplay

The application is free to download for iOS and Android at anytime but the game can only played live with other players in a specific location at a certain time. Prospect players will have to register online at the official game website where they can choose their schedule.

At the beginning of the game, the players meets the host of the game session who roleplays as Mephisto. They are asked to sign a contract which states that they agree to forfeit their soul in exchange of an opportunity to shop for "values" at MEPHISTO&co, the demon's store through his online bank dubbed as "Bank of Mephisto". The player can acquire currency to shop for values by "exchanging the souls" of their social media friends (or famous personalities).

They are given a set of cards representing values and are asked to choose 6 and rank them. Mephisto will brief the "rules" of the game and the players will have to read character quotations from Goethe's Faust. To buy a value and therefore earn points they will have to determine what quotation they want to buy and its corresponding value. During intervals, players can exchange cards with other players for a points boost. Mephisto will read the quotations "bought" by other players while the game's in progress.

At the end of the game, Mephisto will announce the winner who will be given a prize.