Kartini: From Darkness to Light

In Kartini - From Darkness to Light, you manage schools for girls where girls from different islands of Indonesia come to be students. As they graduate, the students become politicians, fighters, patrons, or teachers, further advancing education for women and supporting the fight for the nation’s freedom. Strategically manage your duits (money) and books to help as many girls graduate from your school while paying attention to your school’s reputation. After three rounds, the player with the highest points wins the game.

Kartini - From Darkness to Light celebrates the triumphs of girls’ education. The game takes place in Indonesia from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, during the country’s struggle for independence from Dutch colonialism. This was the era where Indonesian young women were stepping up to the plate, leading battles, and participating in politics for a free Indonesia. Realizing that the key to the nation’s eventual liberation lied in education, some of them built schools and advocated for more and more girls to be educated to then participate in the nation’s fight for freedom. Indonesian women’s yearning for education and to take an active role in public life were encapsulated in a famous series of letters written by Kartini, a Javanese aristocrat, to her Dutch friends. These letters were later published as a book titled ‘From Darkness to Light,’ from which the name of this game is derived. Kartini’s letters are often credited as one of the cornerstones of the Indonesian women’s emancipation movement and served as profound inspirations for Indonesia’s fight for independence.