Mictlan: An Ancient Mythical Tale News

Tamoanchan

Tamoanchan is a mythical place where a broken, flowering tree grows. A divine force irradiates from it with so much power, that not only it is capable of giving life, but also of regenerating life, bringing the dead back to life.

It is said that the broken tree representing Temoanchan emerges from a place where the gods were born and it then grew over the 7 caves (Chicomoztoc), from where the Aztecs separated from 6 other tribes (with which they shared Nahua lineage) and from where they left, guided by their god Huitzilopochtli.

Temoanchan is the place where Quetzalcoatl revived the bones of the ancestors to resurrect humanity, creating the first man and woman that would live in the World of the Fifth Sun. There, corn sprouted for the first time, and there began the pilgrimage of the Aztecs towards their destiny.

According to some experts*, Tamoanchan represents a mythical region where gods, human beings, creatures, food, plants and nations originated…

In the image you can see one of the scenes of the animated short that we are working on.

Take a look at these three sneak peek we already shared, to have an idea of what we're working on!
#1 #2 #3

*Tamoanchan: una imagen verbal del origen, Patrick Johansson K. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas de México, 2015

Guillermo Alarcón's photographs

Today we want to take the chance to present the work of our Creative Director, Guillermo Alarcón, whose photographs are a precious memento of his travels around the world.

The search for my roots and cultural identity is what sparked my passion for Mesoamerica civilizations in the first place. Born in Mexico but raised in San Francisco, I have visited 97 countries in 9 years. My travels gave me the opportunity to explore archaeological sites around the world, dive deep into ancestral cultures, spirituality and shamanism, gaining an extensive knowledge of the Mexican culture. In 2012, I also had the opportunity to live in an indigenous Mayan community near the Chichen Itza ruins. I learned about their lifestyle and traditions, explored the Yucatan jungle, built huts and collected plants. I learned a lot about myself and about the indigenous people’s rich cultural legacy. Although I now live in a very different jungle, the city of Tokyo, I still carry in my heart those life-changing experiences which have shaped the way I see the world and portray reality through my work. My background as a multimedia artist, photographer and filmmaker allowed me to lay the foundations to build Mictlan, the game I have always wanted to create to convey my experiences and let other people appreciate the beauty of Mexican culture and myths.

Guillermo decided to share his work with Mictlan's fans in order to let others appreciate the beauty of some of the life-changing moments he has lived and also to be able to support the development of the game, by selling his pictures.

Available in metal framing and acrylic emulsion, these high-quality images are printed on metal sheet through a special printing process that is exclusively used for museums and important galleries.

You can find them in Mictlan’s official store:
https://store.mictlanthegame.com/

Furthermore, these photos and other official Mictlan merchandise will feature as rewards in our Kickstarter campaign. And, on top of that, some of these physical printings will come with an exclusive collectible NFT, which will digitally authenticate you as a unique owner of one of Guillermo Alarcón’s photographic artworks.

Mictlan's Art Book

While our development process proceeds at full pace, we are collecting all of the amazing pieces by our team of talented artists, to be presented in an art book which will be available during our Kickstarter campaign (have you registered yet? It only takes one minute!).

It will be an art book showcasing all the characters, the environments and the creatures that populate our fantastic and diverse world of Mictlan.

[h3]Want to see more?

Want to see our first official trailer?[/h3]

We will present it to our community at the launch of our Kickstarter campaign.
But in order to launch the campaign, we need at least 20k people to register to the page. It literally takes a minute to do so, but it would mean the world to us.

[h3]Mictlan community, help us out![/h3]

Mexico-Tenochtitlan causeways

Greetings, dear Mictlan fans!

Today, we will talk about the Mexico-Tenochtitlan causeways.

Roads, unlike the numerous canals that crossed the city, had been designed with the purpose of speeding up the traffic of people inside and outside the city, as well as the circulation of goods that could not travel by lake. These causeways had a considerable length, up to 20 meters, a feat of engineering achieved in ancient Mexico.

There were four main roads in the city.
Iztapalapa was the busiest; it faced south and connected the city with the towns of Coyoacan, Xochimilco and Chalco. Tacuba led to the west. Towards the north, a minor one led to a canal named Tezontlali, which was connected to Tepeyac; and finally, Tepeyac was connected to a large pier that gave access to the kingdom of Texcoco.

In Mictlan, we want the players to travel these important routes and immerse themselves in the daily life of this mythical city.

Note: This is not the final render, you will enjoy the finished version of Tenochtitlan at the end of 2024 - 2025

Legends, myths, facts, history: Mictlan has it all! We're aiming at including in our game the most incredible stories, and we will continue updating you with news, concept arts, sneak&peeks of our creative process, so make sure to follow us on our social media channels to stay updated!

Miquiztetl

The cruel Miquiztetl was a deity from the underworld who tried to stop the dead from overcoming the trials of the nine regions. When people died, they had to travel for 4 years, before arriving to Mictlán.

A skillful warrior and twin sister of the God of Dreams, she attacked those who descended to the world of the dead and terrified them with her fierce and skeletal body. She attacked with her weapons and made them fall into different traps that the dead had to overcome, before going through the nine levels that blocked their access to Mictlan.

After a long journey through the underground regions, the dead had to rid of their fears, traps, and tricks of Miquiztetl, to prove that they were capable of freeing their Tonalli (soul) from all the life burdens.

They finally arrived in front of the lord and mistress of death: Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlancíhuatl, rulers of the underworld, who allowed the souls to leave behind all the pain that they had carried during their lives, in order to finally rest in peace.