Research-Creation using Open Source Tools: Playing the Archive in Hawk & Puma

Hawk & Puma is a minimalist pixel-art video game developed using open-source tools like Bitsy as part of a doctoral research-creation process. The game reimagines "El Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno", a 400-year-old illustrated manuscript written by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala—an Indigenous Andean chronicler who denounced colonial violence in 17th-century Peru. This project bridges creative technology, archival research, and community collaboration to explore how digital storytelling can function as both scholarly inquiry and cultural preservation. The game was designed to function as a playable archive: a digital environment where players can engage with Guaman Poma’s ideas through movement, interactivity, and reflection. Pixel art inspired by his original ink illustrations, combined with an ambient Andean-influenced soundtrack, help immerse players in a stylized but critical interpretation of the manuscript. Beyond the game itself, this project sparked the creation of Andean Futures, a community-based initiative in collaboration with members of the ÑawpaÑan community in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Through this partnership, Indigenous and local youth are now using open-source tools to design their own games, contributing to cultural sustainability and digital sovereignty.