Ankh (video game)

Ankh is a graphic adventure game from German developer Deck13 and published by bhv Software in 2005. It has a 3D environment with cinematic camera movement and incorporates humor. Ankh is a remake of Ankh: The Tales of Mystery, a 1998 adventure game developed by Artex Software for the Acorn Archimedes.

For other uses, see Ankh (disambiguation).
Ankh
Developer(s)Deck13 Interactive (Windows)
VIS Games (DS)
Publisher(s)BHV Software (Windows)
Xider Games (DS)
Daedalic Entertainment (DS)
Designer(s)Timm Schwank
EngineOGRE
Platform(s)Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Nintendo DS
Release
November 4, 2005
  • Windows
    • GER: November 4, 2005
    • EU: February 3, 2006[1]
    • NA: August 31, 2006
    Linux
    • WW: December 17, 2006[2]
    OS X
    • GER: December 18, 2006
    • EU: May 2007
    Nintendo DS
    • EU: September 17, 2008
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Ankh spawned two sequels: Ankh: Heart of Osiris and Ankh: Battle of the Gods. In 2006, the original Ankh was ported to Linux and OS X. A Special Edition of the game was released in the UK in February 2007.[3] A Nintendo DS port was released in 2008 under the title Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King.

Plot
Screenshot showing the game interface

The player takes the role of Assil, the son of a respected architect in Cairo. Assil is a party animal but at some point one of his party-nights turned out sour. When he tries to have some fun in the pyramids with two friends of his, he accidentally breaks some urns and thus disturbs the mummy resting in the pyramid. The mummy punishes Assil by placing a death curse on him, and now he has 24 hours to remove the curse and save himself. Later in the game Assil meets the Arabian ambassador's daughter Thara, who is also a playable character.

Jan Klose, Creative Director at Deck13 Interactive, also cited Monkey Island to be an influence for the Ankh series.[4]

Development

The soundtrack for the game was composed by Dynamedion and was rated as 1st place for “Best German Soundtrack 2005”.[5] According to GameStar, Ankh was produced on a small budget "in the low six-digit range".[6]

Reception

Ankh was a commercial hit in the German market, with sales of 100,000 units in that region alone. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported that it also saw success worldwide.[11] According to Deck13, the combined global sales of Ankh and its first two sequels—Heart of Osiris and Battle of the Gods—surpassed 500,000 units by August 2009.[12]

The Microsoft Windows and Nintendo DS versions received "mixed or average reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[13][14]

References
  1. Vandervell, Andrew (January 12, 2006). "Ankh Review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  2. "Ankh". Linux game database. Archived from the original on 2016-11-13. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  3. "Xider launches a Special Edition of "Ankh" in the UK". February 16, 2007. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  4. Barton, Matt (May 21, 2008). "Jan Klose - Deck 13 Interactive". Adventure Classic Gaming.
  5. "Dynamedion Track Record". 2006. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  6. Staff (July 19, 2006). "Deutsche Spiele im Ausland". GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on December 3, 2018.
  7. Schmidt, Christian (December 2005). "Das hätte auch den Pharaonen gefallen" (in German). Archived from the original on November 15, 2006.
  8. Weiss, Thomas (December 2005). "Test; Ankh". PC Games (in German): 144, 145.
  9. Naser, Bodo (November 7, 2005). "Ankh". 4Players (in German). Archived from the original on October 18, 2007.
  10. Schütz, Felix (January 2006). "Mit Stil am Nil". PC Action (in German): 138.
  11. Boldt, Martin (August 19, 2010). "Retter der Abenteuerspiele". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). Archived from the original on July 22, 2018.
  12. Simon, Tobias (August 17, 2009). "Neuankündigung auf der gamescom". Gameswelt (in German). Archived from the original on April 29, 2014.
  13. "Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King (ds:2008) [date mislabeled as "August 31, 2007"]: Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  14. "Ankh for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  15. Morganti, Emily (August 12, 2009). "Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King review". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  16. Allin, Jack (March 17, 2006). "Ankh review". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  17. Superb, Egon (February 6, 2006). "Ankh". Eurogamer. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  18. "Ankh". GamesMaster. February 2006.
  19. Todd, Brett (September 18, 2006). "Ankh Review". GameSpot. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  20. Aceinet (October 1, 2006). "ANKH - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  21. "Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King". NGamer: 66. November 2008.
  22. "Ankh". PC Gamer UK. February 2006.
  23. PC Zone staff (March 2006). "PC Review: Ankh". PC Zone. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
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