Step into The House of Hikmah, where the people within aren’t your typical quiet, demur scribes whispering as they translate old, dusty tomes. These characters are inspired by real historical figures, have strong opinions, distinct personalities, and complicated relationships with grief. They are scholars, yes, but also people.
The Story Until Now
The House of Hikmah tells the story of Maya, a girl grappling with the sudden loss of her father. Shortly after his passing, she is invited to the House of Wisdom by the scholars he worked alongside. As Maya meets each of them, she uncovers the life her father lived beyond their time together, and in doing so, starts to process her grief.
In this blog, we’ll be introducing the scholars themselves, the historical figures who inspired them, and how their real-world work directly shaped their personalities, spaces, and character design.
Scholars of the Islamic Golden Age
The House of Hikmah brings together scholars from the Islamic Golden Age whose contributions shaped engineering, medicine, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and more. Their legacy gave us a deep well of research to draw from.
Ibn Sina was a respected philosopher and physician, with contributions to psychology, mathematics, and medicine – among numerous other subjects. . Mariam al-Astrulabi modernized the astrolabe, improving navigation, astronomy, and timekeeping. Research ‘Ismail al-Jazari’ and you’ll immediately see images of one of this Scholar’s most famous inventions: the elephant clock– a machine powered by water.
The scholars represented in the game showcase a lifetime of discovery, invention, and curiosity. Our challenge was not just to simply reference their accomplishments, but to humanize them.
Characters, not Caricatures
We could have spent an eternity researching and reading these scholars’ works, but little is documented regarding their personalities and physical attributes. There are hundreds of artist renderings of Ibn Sina, but few of Mariam al-Asturlabi. In some cases, such as Jabir ibn Hayyan’s, it’s unclear whether he was a single person or multiple people whose work was attributed to one name.
We shaped their personalities around who we believe they could’ve been, given their areas of study, and their research. We took care to keep them grounded, approachable, and emotionally vibrant, without leaning into caricature tropes. Given the nature of who they were and the respect their work and memories deserve, much time was spent refining their voices to ensure we were creating fun, unique renditions of these influential historical figures.
Every scholar shares a common loss, but each responds differently. Grief is not a singular experience, and that needed to be immediately visible in the way each character interacts with Maya.
Mariam al-Astrulabi's works, for example, are often overshadowed by her father, despite her own significant accomplishments. In our interpretation, she is sharp, confident and demanding, with high expectations for Maya. At the same time, her creative brilliance manifests itself in her realm as controlled chaos. Books and pillows lay strewn across the floor, as if she couldn’t be bothered to straighten them when she was struck by a new idea.
Our team played out scenarios and “tried them on” to each of the characters for fit. “Omar Khayyam is a poet,” said Art Director Micaela Dawn “You can feel his emotions through his writing. That kind of depth and understanding makes for a great friend. It also could mean he experiences emotions intensely, and that shapes how he responds to loss.”
Designing Scholarly Realms
In The House of Hikmah each scholar exists within their own space, in an adjacent reality called the Mystic Realm. These spaces serve as the levels that Maya will traverse throughout her journey, each an extension of the scholar’s minds and histories.
Given the flexible nature of the Mystic Realm, we had a lot of freedom in terms of brainstorming how each scholar would’ve designed and maintained their individual spaces. When designing them, our team incorporated elements from each scholar’s real history: sketches and drawings became real structures and backdrops within the game. Mariam’s office is maybe the best example: her observatory space brings the heavens inside, and components of her astrolabe designs were used in the first puzzle Maya encounters.
Al-Jazari’s space incorporates gears, machinery, pipes, and elevators. Gears are used in a tiling pattern on the door to his space, and stained glass elements throughout invoke clockwork mechanics as decor – all inspired by the unique devices created by the historical al-Jazari.
Wearing History on Your Sleeve
These same principles influenced our character design. Ibn Sina’s medical drawings inspired the design for his clothing, with anatomical veins from his drawings woven into his scarf. Although his character traits underwent several revisions, his appearance remained largely the same. As he became a more calming presence in the game, the warm color palette and soft textiles he wears helped soften his large stature and conveyed a sense of calm.
Nothing in the scholar’s designs is arbitrary. Everything from the patterns, textures, and objects they carry to their clothing and their physical spaces are a reflection of who they were, what they studied, and how they carry their loss.
Receive Letters From The Scholars
Our scholars are not meant to be accurate historical representations; they are meant to authentic, unique interpretations. They’ll feel flawed, brilliant, and human. We hope players come away from the story with a deeper understanding of these individuals and their impact.
To get a sneak-peak at the scholar’s relationships to one another – and pre-release teasers for our story – sign up for our email newsletter, where you may be able to intercept some inter-House-of-Wisdom mail…
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