A game to improve your spatial and visual memory

There’s a weird apartment in the city of Kharkov (Ukraine), which used to be inhabited by travelers, designers, musicians, photographers and artists. The walls of this apartment all carry the spirit of adventurism and aspirations. In one of the rooms, behind the red door with a dark forest on the wall and a cat sleeping on the floor, live two people.

In the nighttime when the universe outside their apartment dies away, they start dreaming. Dreaming of once doing something meaningful. Dreaming of their walls getting way wider and these two being able to share their dreams with others.

When their windows were covered in drizzle and the cat was lying with his nose in the radiator, these two finally decided to stop just dreaming. This is how their first game saw the light. Now these two have big plans. To grab the cat, leave the room and find the dreamers just like them and share with them there all. It might give an impulse to someone out there too to make their dreams come true.

I’m Stetsenko, and I was born in a strict and not really friendly family in Ukraine. My parents used to work a lot so I grew up on my own. Cartoons, puzzles and tabletop games were my only rescue. I invented the games myself and made them out of cardboard.

After high school I had no idea what to do with my life. My dream was to make games but I didn’t know where they teach that. I had some phantasies of me being the main character in the movie Big, but never meeting Zoltar. It’s hard to be a dreamer in Ukraine – it doesn’t pay the bills. However, the dream was still glimmering.

In 2013 my father was diagnosed with cancer. He’s been fighting for his life for three years since. Ten chemos undermined his health and memory. I wanted to support my dad and not let his memory completely fail him. Maga was enthusiastic about the idea. That’s how ‘Eyegamer’ came about. I came up with the mechanics and the rules, and she drew six decks. We had a few prototypes printed and tested different kinds of laminations and paper. After six months of hard work the game is now ready.

Eyegamer is a tactical board game that trains concentration and visual memory and develops abstract thinking. It’s a game with simple mechanics and exciting gameplay. The player’s task is to collect as many pairs of cards as possible in the shortest period of time.

Eyegamer has become more than just a game for us. It proves the fact that dreaming is essential. My father plays it, my friends and I play it. We want the game to improve spatial and visual memory, while staying interesting and understandable both for kids and for elderly people.

Did you like this story? Please share or comment. Go to this page to submit a story yourself. Subscribe to our online magazine here!