Montreal video game inspired by 1970 Quebec October Crisis

A Montreal video game designer is bringing an important period in Quebec history back to life. Olivier Leclair is developing a game called Couchemars d’octobre or October nightmares in English.

“It’s a game about how the October Crisis was lived by the average Quebecois person in Montreal,” said Leclair from Studio Chien d’Or.  

It’s a point and click cosmic horror game that takes place during the October crisis.

“It’s really a game about how the human being lived the event and how fear was used by the federal government as a tool of repression,” explained Leclair.

The game combines the events from October 1970 in Montreal when members of the FLQ kidnapped the provincial labour minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross – and the response to this, the War Measures Act, which was invoked by prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau which limited civil liberties allowing police to arrest and detain close to 500 people.

“I find inspiration from every historical sources I can find, some movies too. We had some great movies about the subject, some documentaries,” said Leclaire. “I go left and right, try to find the most compelling sources.”

During the creation of this video game, Leclair added a supernatural element to heighten the anxiety of what was happening at the time. He also uses the loss of individual freedoms as part of the horror element in the game’s story. 

“The cosmic horror, it’s a genre where the horror comes from how small the human being is in the entirety of the cosmos and how we are unable to comprehend how it’s limitless,” said Leclair. 

In developing Couchemars d’octobre, Leclair emphasizes the importance of video games that reflect Quebec’s history and culture.

“For me video game it’s a legitimate way to talk about our history and our culture and to valorize our culture throughout the world,” explained Leclair, adding “the goal is really to establish video game as a part of the Quebecois culture and to do so we have to talk about our own histories.”

The game has raised funds through a Kickstarter campaign and is expected to be available as a PC video game in the next couple of years.

“I’m a bit afraid of the reception but I think it will spark some interesting conversations,” said Leclair.

“It will get the interest of younger generations to know more about the October crisis.”