Fran Bow

I’m a big fan of games tackling the motives of madness, mental illness, shifting perceptions of reality and uncertainty about what’s real and what’s not. I’m also a fan of dark imagery. Fran Bow is a classic point-and-click adventure game in which you take on the role of Fran, a ten year old girl with a very active imagination and a very tragic backstory. After some horrible stuff happens, you are landed in a psychiatric hospital and have to escape and reunite with your beloved kitty, Mr. Midnight, and also learn the truth behind said horrible stuff that happened to you. Overall, Fran Bow does generally deliver on the “dark imagery” front – you experience horrible visions of an alternate reality that’s full of blood, gore and shadowy figures. But it wouldn’t be anything else than an exploitative shock horror for shock horror’s sake without an engaging story to perk it up. And I’m happy to say that I think Fran Bow delivers on that front as well – it’s pretty engaging to try to decipher “what it means”, as the story, to my mind, can be read in several different ways, including or excluding actual supernatural elements, depending on how you interpret it. It was really fun for me to try and understand what certain elements mean, what they relate to in Fran’s life and her lived experiences, and how the story overall ties together. Now, I said Fran Bow is a point and click adventure game, so you probably would like to know how it holds up in that regard. And I would say... okay? Please note, that I’m very much a newcomer to the genre of point-and-clicks, so my point of entry is probably lower than many of you. And Fran Bow’s puzzles are generally forgiving – there’s no egregious pixel hunting, the puzzles generally do make sense. If you want to see how it played to see if it would interest you, you might want to check a bit of my let’s play on the youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgU2KkzBB3o&list=PLp4TpsJ7HUWVEpFqnEuIA7pyIuKD4VwV9

Point and click adventure games are all about the story. I didn't know what I was getting into, and I am not a fan of horror stories. All I know is that once I started playing, I couldn't stop! I just needed to know what happens next, and I kept being amused with every step. You play a traumatized character at the edge of madness from the eyes of a child. The game often blurs the line between reality and insanity, and then makes that part of the gameplay, which is ingenious. As opposed to other horror games, it didn't feel like an exploitation of cheap jump scares, which is rare nowadays. At all times I kept wondering if Fran was insane, or if it was something else. You don't know who to trust, which keeps us on our toes. Fran wants to know what happened to her parents, and that's what keep us playing. We are given hints, but since she is potentially insane, we don't know what's real. Right at the beginning there is a sense of conspiracy, but the game never tells you what to believe. What is the most endearing to me is how Fran interprets this horrifying world as a child, considering adults would react very differently. Her love for her cat is also a compelling force to push the story forwards, even if we don't know if Fran or her cat were actually dead or alive. All I know is that I was sucked into this world, wanting to read everything, and talk to everyone. Most puzzles were simple, though a few were unnecessarily obscure to me. I am still stunned how they managed to balance this between being terrifying and whimsical. It was a trip between a child's rich imagination and the edge of madness. It can be difficult to tell them apart. This was one of the most intriguing experiences I had from a game in a long time, and I strongly recommend. But beware, it's disturbing with plenty of blood and gore, which can come as a shock considering Fran is a 10-year-old child - this is NOT for kids.

The process lasts for 6-8 hours. Don't be frightened by the horrible elements of the game, as my title says, "A fairy tale." It is recommended to buy at a discount.

This game holds a special place in my heart, Fran Bow is one of the best horror point and click games i've ever played. The spooky atmosphere fits perfectly with the story and will have you on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys horror stories with a spooky atmosphere. Wonderful game all around.

Love this game. It has the right blend of beautiful yet unsettling art, terrific story, and challenging but not impossible puzzles. I didn't feel like I was supposed to read the devs minds to figure out what to do. The clues were right there to move me along. I consulted walkthroughs a few times to jumpstart my brain, mainly because I was impatient! The dynamic of switching between worlds was ingenious and a great way to add challenge and interest and artistic variety. Will be following this dev for future games.