Not So Civil Spies

Made for the Historically Accurate Game Jam 9

Historical Context

This game takes place during the beginning of the American Civil War. It was a brutal war with some of the bloodiest battles in American history. Its cause: slavery. While many history lessons delve deep into the causes and the course of the war, rarely* do they discuss the intelligence operations that had the power to change the course of battles. This game follows the roles Mary Jane Richards and Timothy Webster played in providing useful information to the Union.

*at least they haven't discussed intelligence operations in any of the history lessons I've been a part of

Resources

• https://www.history.com/news/female-spies-civil-war-mary-bowser-elizabeth-van-lew
• https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/spy-executions-during-american-civil-war#:~:text=During%20the%20American%20Civil%20War%2C%20both%20the%20Union%20and%20the,jail%20or%20death%20by%20hanging.

Relevance to the Theme

The game features the missions of two people: 

Mary Jane Richards, a formerly enslaved African American woman, who worked as a servant in the Confederate White House. She was literate and had the ability to remember almost everything she heard and read.

Timothy Webster, a man born in England and immigrated to the United States, went undercover into Confederate Army Camps to gain information about their armies. He was also, unfortunately, the first spy to be hung during the War. May he rest in peace.

How to Play

WASD or arrow keys to move

Space bar to interact with objects (where indicated by "!")

Tab to continue the dialogue

Credits

Art - Twelvethirty4

Code/Programming - ShaFaTuDou

Sound - (free assets downloaded from the following sources)

• https://nox-sound-design.itch.io/essentials-series-sfx-nox-sound (footsteps effects)
• https://alan-dalcastagne.itch.io/dialog-text-sound-effects (typewriter/dialogue effects)
• Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
  https://uppbeat.io/t/cedric-vermue/passing-clouds License code: MKCHKDKSWOK8BNSO
  (background music)

Fonts - 

• "Essays 1743 Font Family" by John Stracke (https://www.1001fonts.com/essays1743-font.html)
• "Due Date Font" by Typographer Mediengestaltung (https://www.1001fonts.com/due-date-font.html)

A side note: to hear the background music for the main menu and title screen, wait a few seconds (the track starts off really quiet) :)

Another side note: press tab to close out the speech bubble, the speech bubble needs to be closed before you can move