Fran Bow
Killmonday Games
{video game}
Fran Bow is a point-and-click, independently made computer game that follows the adventures of Fran Bow. The game starts with a haunting face and the words, “everything’s fine”—but trust me, it is not. The story begins with Fran Bow, an innocent, playful, ten- year-old girl whose now finds herself in the Oswald Asylum after witnessing her parents’ horrific murder by dismemberment. She is in shock, but she believes that the best use of her time is to leave the asylum to find her best friend, cat, and guide, Mr. Midnight, and work to solve her parent’s murder. But in order to do that, she must escape the house of madness.
That’s where you come in. In each room, Fran (you) must find the items and tools you need to progress. You collect, use, combine, and examine the objects. Combine a bobby pin with a hook and create a key to leave your room, for example. What you need to do to progress is not always straightforward; it takes creativity— something that this game never lacks. But you’ll find that combining items isn’t enough to escape; you also need to enter the ultrareality. Just like with the DC multiverse, this game uses multiple realities to make the levels and story more intricate. In each room, after exploring every opportunity possible, it’s time to trigger the ultrareality.
At the start of the game, Fran is given special pills to help with her diagnosed mental disorder: little red pills called Duotine that have some serious side effects. Along with the purse you use to collect and combine items, you are also armed with Duotine pills that, once taken, distort whatever room you’re standing in to the extreme. Think of the “upside-down” in Stranger Things; it’s like the real world, but scarier. To progress in the game and travel further into an increasingly insane world, you (Fran) must bravely switch between realities and explore the huge gothic world of Fran Bow.