Game
A year in Romania: twelve small games, one for each month
Each month in Romania sets its own test. Shut the windows before the draught gets you, dig the Dacia out of the snow, flip the grilled mici in time and never say no to grandma. You get a diploma at the end.
January · gerar
The draught
Windows keep swinging open. Tap each one to shut it before the draught gets grandma.
Play with a finger or a mouse. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move the pointer and Space presses.
The calendar: all twelve months
Play the months in any order. Each one keeps the most stars you have earned.
No month played yet.
The diploma at the end of the year
The diploma appears after your first month and fills in as you collect stars.
Your title:
What happens in each month
Each game starts from a custom or a situation familiar to anyone who has spent a year in Romania. Beside each month is its traditional Romanian folk name.
January gerar
Romanians fear the curent: the draught that runs through a home when two windows are open at once. It gets the blame for colds, toothache and stiff necks. The folk name of the month, gerar, comes from ger, the Romanian word for hard frost.
February făurar
Anyone who parks in the street starts a winter morning with a brush and a shovel. Once the car is clear, the snowplough passes and pushes the snow from the road back against the parked cars. The Dacia was for decades the Romanian family car. The folk name for February is făurar.
March mărțișor
On 1 March Romanians give each other a mărțișor: a twisted red-and-white cord with a small charm, worn on the chest at the start of spring. In 2017 UNESCO added the custom to its list of intangible cultural heritage, together with the 1 March customs of Bulgaria, North Macedonia and the Republic of Moldova. The folk name of the month is also mărțișor.
April prier
At Orthodox Easter, which usually falls in April or May, people tap red-dyed eggs against each other. One says “Christ is risen!”, the other answers “He is risen indeed!”, and the egg that stays whole wins. The folk name for April is prier.
May florar
May Day is a public holiday in Romania and, by tradition, a day for a barbecue on the grass. Mici are rolls of minced meat, grilled and eaten with mustard and bread. The folk name for May is florar, the month of flowers.
June cireșar
June's folk name is cireșar, the month when cherries ripen. The best ones, as everybody knows, grow on the branch that hangs over the neighbour's fence.
July cuptor
Mamaia is the Black Sea resort next to the port city of Constanța. In July, known as cuptor (“the oven”), the beach fills up early in the morning and finding room for a towel takes patience.
August gustar
Dăbuleni, a town in Dolj county in southern Romania, is known for watermelons grown in sandy soil. At the stall the buyer knocks on the melon: a ripe one is said to sound hollow. The folk name for August is gustar.
September răpciune
Zacuscă is a vegetable spread, mostly roasted aubergines and peppers, simmered slowly and stirred all the time, then sealed in jars for the winter. The folk name for September is răpciune.
October brumărel
Must is fresh grape juice, drunk in autumn before it ferments into wine. In the past the grapes were crushed by foot. The folk name for October is brumărel, the month of the first light frosts.
November brumar
On St Andrew's night, between 29 and 30 November, tradition says the strigoi, restless spirits, are abroad. To keep them out, people rubbed garlic on doors and windows. The folk name for November is brumar.
December undrea
Sarmale are rolls of minced meat wrapped in pickled cabbage leaves. They are always on the Christmas table, often with polenta and sour cream. A Romanian grandmother does not take no for an answer. The folk name for December is undrea.
About the game
Your stars are kept only on your own phone or computer. Nothing is sent anywhere.
The sounds are made on the spot, with no recordings, and the button in the corner of the game turns them off.
Sources
- UNESCO, “Cultural practices associated to the 1st of March”, inscribed in 2017 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. ich.unesco.org
- Romanian dictionaries (dexonline), for the folk names of the months: gerar, făurar, mărțișor, prier, florar, cireșar, cuptor, gustar, răpciune, brumărel, brumar, undrea. dexonline.ro