One Day of Leo Tolstoy—an interactive guide created over ten days by students from various Russian universities with the curatorial support of HSE Art and Design School faculty and staff from the Yasnaya Polyana museum estate.The game is available on the museum’s website at: game.ypmuseum.ru
Project Background
The Game Guide continues a series of partnership projects between the HSE Art and Design School and the Yasnaya Polyana Museum Estate. Previous collaborative projects include:
— The Land Art Laboratory «Fertile Ground, ” September 23–27, 2025, at the „Tolstoy Without a Beard“ festival,
— Field Practice for the „Field Recording“ course, April 29, 2026, HSE Art and Design School Master’s Program.
The idea for the new project arose in the spring of 2026. The goal is to create a digital, multimedia, gamified product that introduces the user to Tolstoy’s way of life and allows them to wander through the most secluded corners of the Yasnaya Polyana nature reserve.Visitors often arrive at Yasnaya Polyana expecting a thirty-minute stroll. In reality, it is a nature reserve spanning 412 acres.The game-guide is equally useful for those who are just planning their route through the museum estate as it is for those who have already visited and want to check off everything they have seen. The game is based on facts from the writer’s life, his family members and friends, historical and contemporary photographs of Yasnaya Polyana, and the sounds of the reserve.
The project idea won the «Discovering Russia Anew» expedition competition. This is a federal program implemented with the participation of HSE, the Rosmolodezh program «More Than a Trip, ” and the Russian Geographical Society. The program lays the foundation for a new type of student mobility: students visit various regions of Russia, create socially significant projects, and thereby apply the experience gained through their studies in practice.
The All-Russian Student Expedition to the Yasnaya Polyana Museum Estate in the Tula Region took place from September 23 to October 2, 2026, with the support of the «Rediscovering Russia» program. Students from HSE, ITMO, RUDN, IMLI RAS, and the Moscow Polytechnic participated.
Team
Student Authors
Scenario, Fact-Based Work, Social Media:
• Egor Gladkikh (RUDN)
• Nadezhda Mikhalkina (IMLI RAS)
• Olesya Murinova (ITMO University)
• Alexander Angold (HSE)Programming:
• Mark Abelentsev (HSE)
• Polina Novikova (HSE)
• Polina Sokolova (ITMO University)Game Design:
• Alexandra Abashina (HSE)
• Varvara Zaitseva (HSE)
• Egor Ignatov (HSE)Art:
• Polina Kiryukhantseva (HSE)
• Anna Sergeeva (HSE)
• Veronika Korneva (HSE)
• Elena Rozanova (Moscow Polytechnic)Sound:
• Ekaterina Vorontsova (HSE)
• Fyodor Zhang (HSE)
Mentors
• Ekaterina Kuldina, Expedition Mentor and Curator for the Game Design track at the HSE Art and Design School, a specialist in gamification of museum and cultural spaces• Evgeny Skukovsky, Expedition Mentor and Instructor for the Contemporary Music and Sound Art track at the HSE Art and Design School, actor, director, musician, and theatrical figure• Pyotr Skovorodnikov, Academic Head of the «Game and Digital Product Development» program and Coordinator for the Contemporary Music and Sound Art track at the HSE Art and Design School• Olga Glazunova, Head of Special Projects at the L. N. Tolstoy Estate Museum «Yasnaya Polyana»A Day in the Life of Leo Tolstoy
An interactive journey through Yasnaya Polyana. The player searches for Lev Nikolaevich throughout the estate, learns about his daily routine, and explores the places where the writer spent every day. At the end, the player receives an invitation to visit Yasnaya Polyana in person.
A third-person browser game featuring 2D visual novel graphics with point-and-click elements.
