Playing Kafka

About this game

The definitive Kafka videogame

Although you did nothing wrong, you were arrested one morning. You arrived for work, but you don’t recognize your assistants. And your upbringing left you with a pervasive sense of guilt. Welcome to Playing Kafka, an adventure about the alienation of modern society as well as unresolved family issues. The game adapts three works of the famously absurdist writer and was created with leading Kafka experts.



Can you manage to win an unfair trial? Is the job even real? Can you escape your father’s crushing presence? How do you move forward, when all solutions are obfuscated by a web of unclear rules and machinations…

• a fully voiced branching story, based on Kafka’s The Trial, The Castle and Letter To His Father
  
• atmospheric puzzles, fateful decisions and a drag and drop gameplay that makes characters and environments come alive
  
• approximately 1.5 hour of story in an ever-changing setting

You face an opaque legal trial and are slowly sucked into a web of perplexing bureaucracy. It is up to you how to approach the vague, but insidious accusation – choose who to ask for help and how to talk to judges, procurators, and others as the judgment is slowly closing in on you. Does it even matter if you’re innocent?


Drawing inspiration from Kafka's unsent confession to his father, this chapter delves into their tense relationship. Try to find the right words that helped Kafka come to terms with his upbringing. See Franz struggle to connect with his father in scenes from the past. Is there any hope of reconciliation?


You arrive at a snow-laden village to work as a land surveyor, but you quickly find that nothing is as it seems – locals talk about the village Castle in hushed tones and each day brings more questions than answers. Will you ever be accepted by the forever out-of-reach Castle?



The game was developed to commemorate the centenary of Kafka’s death and was developed in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, Prague.

​The Chinese language version was initiated and supported by the Czech Centre Taipei.

Latest news

• Announcements·27 Jul 2026Official

  More Playing, this time Prague

  Hello Playing Kafka players!It turns out we started an informal series of games with you all: Playing something series. And we have a new one to talk to you about. The game also features Kafka, incidentally.It’s called Playing Prague, and it’s a casual (yet hard to master) puzzle/strategy game about... well, Prague and its cultural and historical heritage.We think you might like it:Playing Prague takes you on a tour of Prague, a city we live and work in. The gameplay tasks you with combining symbols taken from historical houses into intricate patterns to clear each level, all the while discovering and collecting monuments and meeting historical figures.These include Prague Castle, Franz Kafka himself, Old Town Square, poet Jaroslav Seifert or the queen of Bohemia. That’s 60 collectibles in total, all with more info for you to learn more about Prague with.The first level pack (10 levels) is free, but you can support the game by getting two DLCs (2x6 levels) for a price of a coffee.Yes, it’s a bit different to Playing Kafka, but in our mind it follows in its footsteps. Taking a game as an art form and using it to depict culture in a way that is integral to the game experience itself.Hope you like it, leave a review and happy playing,Ondřej Charles Games
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• Announcements·11 Jun 2025Official

  Our new card puzzle game Playing Prague is out! 🌞

  Hello and happy last weeks of springs,we have an big announcement: a new game – and it includes Kafka, as well!It’s called Playing Prague and design-wise, it follows in Beecarbonize’s footsteps. Playing Prague is a cozy puzzler, where you build your own bohemian city by placing cards with symbols from historical houses of Prague. It’s a challenge for both casual and experienced puzzle fans and during gameplay, you’ll also learn something about Prague, its history and important personalities like Mozart, Einstein or Kafka tied with it.Thanks to a partnership with city agency Prague City Tourism, it is 100% free. 🌞 Play it now on iOS and Android. We wanted to pay tribute to the city we live in and love. Inspired by cozy city-builder games, this mobile-first title is both a logical challenge as well as an atmospheric experience.It’s a relaxing puzzle game in which Prague comes alive. Discover the bohemian city and make it your own by creating your own little Prague – all the while solving game levels by placing cards with ancient symbols from Prague houses. And if you try it out, let us know how you like the game – preferably by leaving a review on the stores. Thanks for playing! All the best,Ondřej Charles Games
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• Announcements·6 Dec 2024Official

  Playing Kafka is now in Turkish!

  Thanks to our partners we are so happy to bring Playing Kafka to yet another language – this time Turkish. Some of us at Charles Games went to Istanbul and other parts of the country (someone multiple times!) and loved it there and we hope Turkish players will love our in-game Kafka/K. As always, thanks for playing and liking our game, it means a world to us. I’ll leave you with a Turkish trailer: Ondřej Charles Games
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• Announcements·4 Nov 2024Official

  Lucie Plays Playing Kafka for AdventureX

  Playing Kafka was selected for AdventureX event! To celebrate, we’re streaming our game with Lucie, developer and your host. Involved deeply in the development of the game, she’s sure to have a lot of interesting bits from how The Trial, The Castle and Letter To His Father became a game. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44972519/e8064523f535dc77ce885793ffbe0adde8dc817f.jpg Looking forward to your questions! Also, check out other great games at https://www.adventurexpo.org/exhibitors-2024
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• Announcements·17 Oct 2024Official

  Our New Game Velvet 89 is Out Now!

  Our very dear Kafka players, We are trilled to announce that our new game Velvet 89 is out now! Knowing how much you loved the distinctive art style of Playing Kafka, we designed Velvet 89 with visuals that will capture your attention through a detailed exploration of late 1980s fashion and aesthetics! The game’s paper-like style is inspired by the transparency of banners and placards used by protesters during the revolution, blending historical accuracy with artistic flair to immerse you in the spirit of the era. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3133340/Velvet_89/ Velvet 89 is a free game that will take you to the streets of several Czechoslovak cities, full of people who decided to speak up against an unjust regime – and a title attentive to some of the overlooked aspects of it all. We'd love to hear your thoughts! Leave us a review, drop a comment, and share your perspective on the power of protests—how they have shaped history and how they continue to inspire change today. Velvet 89 is also available on both phone and tablet devices, on App Store and Google Play so you can explore it on whichever platform you prefer. Dive in and experience the story wherever you are!
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