A new Ukrainian video game titled The Hollow has been released on the Steam platform, drawing inspiration from Ukrainian poet Ivan Bahrianyi’s novel Tyhrolovy (Tiger Trappers or The Hunters and the Hunted).
The project was developed by independent creator Vitalii Chyzh and the studio Brenntkopf Development, as reported by Chytomo on May 10.
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The game is set in an alternate version of the late 1960s. In its storyline, despite the official dismantling of the Gulag system, the Soviet Union continues to operate a secret facility known as “Zaslon,” located inside the Tunguska meteorite crater in Siberia. The site is used to detain political prisoners, scientists, and individuals deemed disloyal to the regime.
Players assume the role of a character named Morok, the son of a scientist involved in the development of a classified weapon based on a fictional mineral called “tungusite.” The central objective is to uncover the nature of this weapon and determine who controls its use.
The game blends fictional characters from the universe of Tiger Trappers with historical figures. These include the novel’s protagonist Hryhorii Mnohohrishnyi, writer Ivan Bahrianyi, human rights defender Mykhailo Soroka, aircraft engineer Yurii Kondratiuk, and dissident Levko Lukianenko.
A key location in the game is “Chornoklyn,” a fictional independent state divided into so-called “Zachepylivkas,” virtual zones inspired by the real settlement of Zachepylivka in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Within the game’s alternate universe, Chornoklyn—associated with UNR-aligned communities—stands in opposition to the White Guard, which also exists in this fictional timeline.
According to Chutomo, the developer describes the project as a politically charged story about Ukraine, totalitarianism, colonial violence, and the struggle for freedom. In terms of mechanics and design, the game draws inspiration from mid-2000s shooters, with references including Xenus, the original Far Cry, and early builds of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost.
What is Tiger Trappers about
Tiger Trappers by Ivan Bahrianyi is an adventure novel centered on an individual’s struggle against a totalitarian regime. The story follows Hryhorii Mnohohrishnyi, a fugitive escaping Stalinist labor camps, who finds refuge, freedom, and love among a family of Ukrainian hunters living deep in the taiga. Through the narrative, the novel affirms the resilience of the human spirit, the strength of will, and the triumph of good over evil.
Bahrianyi conceived the idea for the novel during his own imprisonment in Soviet camps. After escaping captivity, he wandered through the taiga and hid among Far Eastern hunters of Ukrainian origin, whose experiences later became the foundation for the story.
The novel was completed in 1943 and first published in 1944 under the original title The Hunters. However, in 1946, the novel was republished in a revised and expanded version under the title Tiger Trappers, which significantly deepened its symbolic meaning.
The tiger—one of the strongest and most dangerous wild animals—became a central metaphor in the story. Living in harmony with nature, the Sirko family learns to master and hunt these predators, symbolizing the courage, physical endurance, and moral strength of the Ukrainian people in the face of extreme hardship.
Over the years, the novel has gone through numerous editions in Ukrainian and German and has also been translated into English, Dutch, and French.
Previously, it was reported that Charlotte Higgins, chief culture writer at The Guardian, is set to publish a new book titled Ukrainian Lessons, focusing on art, everyday life, and resistance in wartime Ukraine.
According to the Penguin Random House, the book examines “the profound connections between war, art and life,” exploring how culture and creativity continue to shape Ukrainian society amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
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