[3][4][5] It was praised for its distinctive and atmospheric art style, sound design, skillful use of the mythology in the story, but criticized for its short length.
During the game the player can collect artifacts of the Permian animal style hidden in different locations, each of them has short historical descriptions.
[9] At a certain stage of the game, the Mooseman can gain the ability to light his staff with Shondi to protect himself from evil spirits, and at one of the locations he will have to shoot a bow.
[10] The moose god Yen [ru], the creator of the world, hatched from an egg laid by the duck floating on a boundless ocean.
Subsequently, Yen got tired of living in the dugout and took his sons and left his wife for good, to hunt for the swift six-legged moose.
Upon reaching the bird named Kars, The Mooseman mounts him and soars into the sky, toward the Upper World, but his way is blocked by Voipel [ru], god of the northern wind.
The visual style was inspired by the works of Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen and Hayao Miyazaki's anime films, and it was decided to draw characters and creatures in silhouettes, because it was easier and created the right atmosphere.
[2][1] The developers turned to the museum after doing the draft of the plot and the list of the idols of the Perm animal style, which were to be present in the game, were ready.
Eduard Churilov, head of the museum's archaeology department, advised the developers of scientific literature on the subject and pointed out flaws in the plot.
After that Beletsky refused to use the artefacts of the Cherdyn goddesses in the game, because they are not objects of the Permian animal style and were brought from somewhere in these lands.
The developers also abandoned the dualistic pantheon described in the scientific literature on Komi mythology, and instead reconstructed the solar myth based on the stories depicted on the idols and the Sámi legend of Myanndash [ru].
[1] In the game there is choral music in the Komi-Permyak and Komi-Zyrian language, performed by the student choir of the Perm Krai College of Arts and Culture.
[1][14] One of the songs is called "Asya Kya" (Komi: Morning Dawn), and is used during the transition between worlds,[15] and the other is "Yen Dzodzogez" (Komi-Permyak: God's Geese), which plays during the final credits.