PERSEPHONE'S CUP, Pipkyn's Place level, 2023.
PERSEPHONE'S CUP TEASER TRAILER, Gameplay opening. 2023
PERSEPHONE'S CUP, Gameplay Animatic, 2023
A long-standing preoccupation with ancient mythology, combined with a love of 90s video games, cartoons and anthropomorphic pigs has brought Persephone’s Cup squealing into existence. Part nightmare, part daydream, Persephone’s Cup presents the feminine urge to conquer the perils of patriarchy.
Persephone’s Cup is a videogame that riffs on the myth of Persephone’s capture by Hades and descent into the underworld, leading the player up the garden path through hell and back.
Persephone is a pig with a penchant for getting into trouble. Though she loves the garden idyll with Pipkyn she craves a room of her own to express what’s in her soul. Feeling an emptiness inside, she scratches an itch and follows the trail of pips right to the underworld. Little does she know it’s a trap set by Hades (aka Nefarious P.I.G) in order to ensnare her and make her his bride.
The player follows Persephone on her journey through darkness and light, progressing in the game by collecting pearls of wisdom. Ultimately Persephone must escape false destiny and carve out a (mush)room of her own.
Both a heroine’s journey from angst to ascension and a commentary on male-dominated gamer culture, Persephone’s Cup riotously rides the hot pink tide to a new shore; where dreams of autonomy and expression can be actualised. Where pigs can fly.
