Gianni Schicchi Game

Gianni Schicchi was a comic Italian opera written by Giuseppe De Luca and premiered in December of 1918 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The opera is set in Florence, Italy in 1299.  The opera follows the Danati family after the passing of Buoso Danati. The family is clearly more interested in Danati’s will than grieving his death. They had heard rumors that he had decided to leave all of his fortune to a monastery. Once the will is found and the family’s worst fears render to be true, none of them got any money.  They hatch a scheme to fool everyone into thinking that Buoso is still alive so they themselves can change the contents of his will through the notary. Since this opera does not have much action per say, the video game will be more about perception and strategy than random acts of violence to win.

The video game will open with a frail old man lying limp in his grand four-poster bed. All his relatives are surrounding him including his cousins, Zita and Simone, his brother in law Betto, and Zita’s nephew Rinuccio. The player (or players) will have the option to toggle and switch between characters whenever they wish, even when new characters are introduced as the levels progress. Level one is focused on finding the will. Which ever character the player selects will be competing against the other family members to find the will. Characters are free to roam the house in search but hints will not be given no matter what. The location of the will changes each game so if the player already beats the game once they can play the game all over again without an upper hand.

After the will is secured is when the player reaches level two. Level two introduces a few new characters. The family has to find Simone (the mayor of the virtual town) and tries to persuade him into helping them get the money they think they so rightfully deserve. Here is where things get a little funky. In order to get an answer from Simone the player(s) have to do something “wowing”. For example, stage a flash mob.  The game becomes interactive at this point so if you are dancing at this part then your character will too. Once something worthy of an answer from Simone has been done, (spoiler alert) Simone will tell you that he cannot help as suggest you seek guidance elsewhere.

As players enter level three they embark on another adventure to find help it is suggested that they seek guidance from Gianni Schicchi. Once Schicchi is located, something even more daring needs to be done to get his help. Players are suggested to go “all out”. Flash mobs and crazy dance moves will not work this time.  It is suggested to perhaps learn some minor gymnastic moves if one really wishes to pass this level. If your offering is declined for not being good enough players will have to start the whole entire game over. On the contrary if the players offer is accepted the Gianni Schicchi will offer his help.

Level four is when things get a little crazy. Schicchi amends that since no one else is aware if the death of Buoso Danati, they can just simply dress Schicchi up as Danati himself, change the will, and no one will know the difference. Players will be given the option to choose a new clothing style, hairstyle, etc for Schicchi in hopes of fooling the notary. At this point in the level players will be forced to play Schicchi’s character and have to act out his actions once the notary arrives. Players will have the option to choose what Schicchi responds in conversation with the notary as well. Once again the notary will need some convincing so another task must be preformed. Seeing as the game is nearing its end, this task is assigned and switches up every game. The tasks range from intense karaoke battles to athletic challenges like a push up contest. If only one player is currently playing then computer/console has the capabilities to battle against them. If the notary is successfully convinced and the will is changed then the game has been won.