The game was created to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the shipwrecking of the steamer and commemorate this little-known event. It reconstructs 1920s Italy, starting with the biggest historical events and artistic movements of the era. The developers gathered together and studied material and documents from the period to make the game.
Team Cavallini gave an interview with IVIPRO in which they said: “Some of the characters that inspired us directly were Ruggero Bauli, the very same Bauli who went on to create the Pandoro, and Isidoro Adami, a nobody to many but not to his grandson, who wrote down his entire story. The Argentinian brothers were inspired by two boys who were picked up when the steamer stopped off in Cape Verde and had already been involved in another shipwreck, and Captain Gulì actually lived. Adami gave us the basis for creating the character of Guido, while the other two, Rita and Lucio, were built on a mix of ideals and historic events”.
The game was created to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the shipwrecking of the steamer and commemorate this little-known event. It reconstructs 1920s Italy, starting with the biggest historical events and artistic movements of the era. The developers gathered together and studied material and documents from the period to make the game.
Team Cavallini gave an interview with IVIPRO in which they said: “Some of the characters that inspired us directly were Ruggero Bauli, the very same Bauli who went on to create the Pandoro, and Isidoro Adami, a nobody to many but not to his grandson, who wrote down his entire story. The Argentinian brothers were inspired by two boys who were picked up when the steamer stopped off in Cape Verde and had already been involved in another shipwreck, and Captain Gulì actually lived. Adami gave us the basis for creating the character of Guido, while the other two, Rita and Lucio, were built on a mix of ideals and historic events”.
Copyright: © Team Cavallini
Map of the transatlantic route
Copyright: © Team Cavallini
The luxurious parlour on board the steamer
Copyright: © Team Cavallini
A lifeboat. In the background is the steamer just before the disaster
Copyright: © Team Cavallini
The three main characters
Copyright: © Team Cavallini
The boarding area
Visual novel
On 25 October 1927, Italian steamer the Princess Mafalda, which set sail from the port of Genoa two weeks previously, sank off the coast of Brazil. It was a tragedy with hundred of victims, but one that the Italian media tried to play down. Italy at the time was under the control of the Fascist regime.
Princesa Mafalda, a visual novel by a team of students at the Civica Scuola di Cinema Luchino Visconti in Milan, tells the story of the journey of the Italian steamer from the point of view of three of the shipwrecked passengers. Here a video game becomes a tool of memory, a vehicle for historical and political reflection.
