What it is
Marzanna is a short narrative platformer inspired by the Slavic custom of making a straw effigy of winter and burning or drowning it to bring spring. You play as Marzanna, winter itself, crossing a frozen wood, a house, a mill-race, a rye field, and a bathhouse on the way to the river. The game is fully voiced, with every line shown on screen, and features six hand-built pixel-art levels.
From the developer
In the developer’s own words, from atlas-house.itch.io.
Created for Super Free AI Game #1 - 🏆 2nd Place — 91 Entries
Every spring, in the old Slavic villages, they made a woman out of straw, gave her winter's name, set her alight, and threw her in the river so the year could turn.
This is her walk to the water.
Read more
You are Marzanna, the winter itself, waking for the last time in a winter that hasn't ended yet. Between her and the river lie a frozen wood, a cold house with a spirit in its stove, the mill-race, a rye field at noon, the village bathhouse, and finally the river, where the village is waiting with torches.
Each place has a spirit out of the old stories: the Domovoi and his sootlings, the drowned of the mill-race, the Noon Wife in the rye, the Bannik in the steam, and the rusalki singing on the islands. Each one asks something different of the cold she carries. Freeze the water to cross it. Breathe out a cloud to hide from the noon sun. Cool the hot stones thrown at you. Lay ice ahead of a flood.
A short narrative platformer, fully voiced, with every line on screen
Six hand-built levels of a pixel-art winter
Hidden keys that open five memories, and lights to gather along the way
22 achievements
Controls
Move: A / D or ← / →
Run: Shift
Jump: Space, W or ↑ (again in the air to double-jump; against a wall to wall-jump)
Slide: S or ↓ while running
Strike: left click, J or Z
Heavy strike: right click
The level's power: F (E or F in the house)
Pause: Esc or P
Keyboard and mouse. It plays best in fullscreen. Your progress is saved in your browser.
Credits
Directed & designed by Kay Kovalčík — Atlas House
Built with Claude (Anthropic)
Marzanna's voice: "Carol" (ElevenLabs)
Music: Atlas Archive (Suno)
Art: The levels, the spirits, the villagers and the creatures — PixelLab Backgrounds & memory paintings — Midjourney and ChatGPT Marzanna's character sprites — IbrahimArt (ibrahimart.itch.io) Spell effects — ppeldo (ppeldo.itch.io) Atmospheric effects — Alenia Studios / KXLT, CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
Fonts: "Pixel Script" by ColorSwitchFan25 (CC BY-SA 3.0); "Cobblestone" by stormgold
Sound effects: Pixabay and Freesound.org contributors
Made with Phaser 3
Thank you for playing.
Editor takes
“For a 91-entry AI jam this 2nd-placer is remarkably complete: six hand-built levels, hidden memories, 22 achievements, and a folkloric hook that gives the short runtime real weight.”
“Double-jump, wall-jump, slide and a heavy strike make the controls feel responsive, though the slow, story-first pacing means it's more a moody walk than a twitch platformer.”
“The frozen palette and soft pixel-art sprites are lovely, and the full voice acting adds atmosphere, even if the AI-composed music occasionally sits a bit flat.”
How to play
Move with A/D or arrow keys, jump with Space, W, or Up, and use a second jump or wall-jump while airborne. Run with Shift, slide with S, strike with left click, J, or Z, and use a heavy strike with right click. Each level has a power tied to the F key (E or F in the house) that changes how you interact with the environment.
Tips
- Freeze water to create a path before crossing it.
- When the noon sun is dangerous, breathe out a cloud to hide.
- Cool the hot stones thrown at you instead of avoiding them outright.
- Search for hidden keys to unlock five memory scenes.
- Collect the lights along the way; they track your progress and unlock achievements.
Questions
Is Marzanna free?
Yes, it was made for the Super Free AI Game #1 jam and is playable for free in the browser.
Does it run on mobile?
It's an HTML5 game that plays in a desktop browser with keyboard and mouse; the controls mention no touch support, so a desktop is recommended.
Does my progress save?
Yes, the page text says your progress is saved in your browser.
How long is the game?
It is described as a short narrative platformer with six hand-built levels.
Is it fully voiced?
Yes, the game is fully voiced, and every line also appears on screen.
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