The Calaveras* are Coming!
One-two-three-four,
Calaveras coming even more.
Five-six-seven-eight,
we‘ ll stay up very late.
First we all eat,
then we all drink,
then we dance with our feet,
until the night‘ s brink.
But when the sun shines,
we all run home,
the living fine,
or the dead,
who‘ ll be the faster one?
*Spanish: „skeletons“
The author named his idea for the game “Zocalo”. This is the name of the central marketplace in Mexican cities. He described how boys and girls meet here and that many a love affair and many a marriage began here. The idea of making Dia de Los Muertos the core theme came from graphic designer Christian Opperer and fits the game perfectly.
On the Day of the Dead, one of the most important Mexican holidays, the deceased are traditionally remembered. The preparation period for the celebrations begins in mid-October; It is celebrated from the eve of All Saints’ Day (October 31) until the commemoration of All Souls’ Day on November 2nd. The Day of the Dead is celebrated in different ways depending on the region.
The Day of the Dead customs were declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2003 and were added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. The celebrations in their traditional form are considered threatened as they are gradually being overshadowed by the more commercially oriented Halloween custom from North America.
