Fran Bow

I haven't a lot to add to the other reviewer comments. Fran Bow is a wunderful, athmospheric indie point and click game with beautiful artwork and awesome background music. I really love the story how a little girl handles the death of here parents by inventing parallel universes and hidden worlds ... or maybe they really exist. I wished the game has another end in which Fran Bow finds her way back to the reality. But nonetheless I'm sure I'm going keep the game in my mind for a long time. Respect for the 2 (!) core developers to create such a masterpiece.

Or perhaps Charm at its most Morbid level. It's all a matter of perspective when it comes to this game. I stumbled upon this game during the end of a sale, and instantly fell in love with the artwork, and simply had to play it because the tone and aesthetic were right up my alley. As I played, I came to love it from the perspective of a Psychology Major in addition to the viewpoint of an artist and horror fan. I won't spoil with the details, but just reading the children's psych/medical charts in the hospital told me that this game is not afraid to bring up very disturbing themes. It doesn't pull its punches, but it never does so in an edgy, try-hard shock-value manner. Instead, the themes are represented in a humanistic manner, and much of the fantasy and horror of the game are creative metaphors for real things that most ignore. Though the game is still not for the squeamish or sheltered. There are moments of genuine, serene beauty, but the nightmare is still around the corner. If you're the type that prefers "Return to Oz" over "The Wizard of Oz", then this game is for you. Fran Bow is what would happen if Monkey Island were made by the Addams Family, and it is beautiful. The game took me over 10 hours to complete because I took my sweet time appreciating the art, atmosphere, and music. Shortly after playing the game my first night, I did research and watched videos from Killmonday Games, and was simply awestruck by the level of passion for the development of this title. All the core development was done by only two people, with additional help from a few dedicated supporters and Indiegogo backers. This is the Little Demon-Engine that Could, and Natalia Figueroa in particular is so amusing and inspirational on a creative level. I just kept finding entirely new ways to love this game. It's been a long time since a Point & Click kept me this captivated (perhaps Gabriel Knight), and I am so happy that this tale has entered my life.

High quality art, creepy imagery, ominous atmosphere, creative and unpredictable story are the main features of this great game. As one guides the little Fran through the many trials born out of her psychosis, one cannot but be moved by the girl's dark fate, and constantly ask oneself: "what comes next? What is the truth about that night? What really did happen?" In the end, no definite answer is provided by the developers, and one is left guessing. This point-and-click adventure game really stands out for quality, depth and creativity. My congratulations to Killmonday Games for their great work.

An excellent Swedish-developed point and click adventure! The game have 5 chapters, each will take around 1-1.5 hour to complete and it has a different setting for each chapter, which makes the game interesting to explore. The story is easy to follow and most of the puzzles are too, although some of the mini-games can be tricky! I totally recommend this if you're a fan of point and click adventures!

Fran Bow is a very well done adventure game. The graphics are gorgeous, the story is captivating and the setting is unique in it's mixes of existing and new lore. For old timers, it could be a direct descendant of Simularcrum. You play a little girl who lost her parents and finds herself in a children's mental asylum where everything seems off. Things only get wilder from there on, making the player constantly question what is real and not, as Fran meets beings from all corners of the spectre, from gruesome to adorable. The puzzles are fairly easy, which for me was an added bonus. Only towards the second half of Chapter 2 does the game start getting challenging, but even then in mild ways, as there is no way to "fail", helping the player focus less on the game mechanics themselves and focus more on the story and world around. Which is great since the world is magnificent. Beautifully drawn, the game oozes imagination and style! Problems? There are a few. Dialogue choices are useless, for one. You will always have a choice between two reply lines. More often than not one will continue the dialogue, the other is "k thx bye". Even when there are two distinct dialogue paths, they make no difference to the game itself; only different flavour text. The few mini-games between some chapters are also plagued by clunky controls, but they are skippable. Also, my main (yet arguable) grief is with the ending. [SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD] The beauty of the game is the looming possibility that Fran might actually be insane and just imagining things. Similar to Simulacrum, however, this illusion is mostly ruined towards the end and replaced with a more happy ending, out of tone with the rest of the game. Arguing that it is still possible she might be crazy would be viable, had the developers not announced that they are planning a sequel, which will most likely continue proving that the Ultrareality is a real place (or not, it could go both ways).