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Fran Bow is a creepy point-and-click adventure game about a young girl, who has witnessed the brutal murders of her parents and is sent off to a mental institution for children. The game was funded on IndieGoGo almost two years ago, and was featured in The Funding Crowd 9 while the campaign was running. A 27th August release date has been announced by the developer duo of Killmonday Games, and an official trailer has been released:
The game was already well into development at the time of the campaign, and I played an alpha demo that really sold the game for me. Like Hotline Miami and BLACKHOLE, Fran Bow uses the GameMaker: Studio engine, and playing the old demo for a bit again today, it seems to work flawlessly on Linux. The game has come a long way since then though, so naturally the alpha demo is not being promoted anymore, but according to the official website, they plan to put a new demo up to coincide with the release on Steam and GOG on 27th August.
What makes this game unique is the ability to switch between the normal world and a horrifying version of the same world at will. Doing so will be necessary both to find clues and items and to solve puzzles that enables you to progress through the story. I find the art style so adorable that it quenches any qualms I might have had about the horror aspects of the game. And I think that point-and-click enthusiasts in general, but perhaps fans of The Cat Lady in particular, will find much to enjoy about this game.
About the game (Official)
Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny.
After witnessing the gruesome and mysterious loss of her parents, found dismembered at their home, Fran rushes into the woods, together with her only friend, Mr. Midnight, a black cat that Fran had previously received as a present from her parents.
In the forest, Fran goes into shock over the loss of her parents and when she recovers, she’s at Oswald Asylum, an oppressive mental institution for children, and Mr. Midnight is nowhere to be found.
After having a dream about her beloved cat, Fran decides to escape from the mental institution to find him and go back home to Aunt Grace, her only living relative. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The game was already well into development at the time of the campaign, and I played an alpha demo that really sold the game for me. Like Hotline Miami and BLACKHOLE, Fran Bow uses the GameMaker: Studio engine, and playing the old demo for a bit again today, it seems to work flawlessly on Linux. The game has come a long way since then though, so naturally the alpha demo is not being promoted anymore, but according to the official website, they plan to put a new demo up to coincide with the release on Steam and GOG on 27th August.
What makes this game unique is the ability to switch between the normal world and a horrifying version of the same world at will. Doing so will be necessary both to find clues and items and to solve puzzles that enables you to progress through the story. I find the art style so adorable that it quenches any qualms I might have had about the horror aspects of the game. And I think that point-and-click enthusiasts in general, but perhaps fans of The Cat Lady in particular, will find much to enjoy about this game.
About the game (Official)
Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny.
After witnessing the gruesome and mysterious loss of her parents, found dismembered at their home, Fran rushes into the woods, together with her only friend, Mr. Midnight, a black cat that Fran had previously received as a present from her parents.
In the forest, Fran goes into shock over the loss of her parents and when she recovers, she’s at Oswald Asylum, an oppressive mental institution for children, and Mr. Midnight is nowhere to be found.
After having a dream about her beloved cat, Fran decides to escape from the mental institution to find him and go back home to Aunt Grace, her only living relative. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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14 comments
That is certainly creepy. I like the art style a lot, it's really nice.
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mulletdeath Jul 29, 2015
I love horror and I love point and click adventure, so surely they'll be good together, right?
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I love horror and I love point and click adventure, so surely they'll be good together, right?We'll there's been plenty of point and click horror games made since the nineties, so why don't you find out. :) You could get started with some of the free ones like Yahtzee's "Chzo Mythos" quadrilogy of adventures, if you don't mind the low resolution.
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muntdefems Jul 29, 2015
The game was funded on IndieGoGo almost two years ago, and was featured in The Funding Crowd 9 while the campaign was running.I see you've done your research homework this time around, good boy. :P
Really looking forward to this one, and more so if it's coming DRM-free to GOG! I ended up not backing it on Indiegogo, and I can't remember why... :S:
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Yay, thanks for spreading the news to the linux community!
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The game was funded on IndieGoGo almost two years ago, and was featured in The Funding Crowd 9 while the campaign was running.I see you've done your research homework this time around, good boy. :P
Really looking forward to this one, and more so if it's coming DRM-free to GOG! I ended up not backing it on Indiegogo, and I can't remember why... :S:
I try to include a link when I cover a crowdfunded game I know has been mentioned on TFC, but I might have forgotten to look it up a few times. :S: Were you thinking of a specific game?
Yay, thanks for spreading the news to the linux community!
My pleasure. Thanks for making the game! :)
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I was interested until you mentionned The Cat Lady… But hey, still looks pretty good.
Don't let that put you off this game. They are very different from what I've played, but I mentioned it because I thought they might appeal to the same people. If I may ask, what is it that you don't like about The Cat Lady?
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muntdefems Jul 29, 2015
I try to include a link when I cover a crowdfunded game I know has been mentioned on TFC, but I might have forgotten to look it up a few times. :S: Were you thinking of a specific game?
As a matter of fact yes, I was thinking of a recent article of yours in which you initially failed to mention the game in question had been covered in TFC, hence the teasing. But for the life of me I just can't find it, so either a) my memory is messier than I thought or b) I spotted the missing TFC reference when said article was still in draft mode and the exchange took place in private, and not in the article comments section.
Really hope it's b)... :S:
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If I may ask, what is it that you don't like about The Cat Lady?I’d have to try it again to make a list. From what I remember it was mostly the lack of polish and poor ergonomy.
The art style is kind of rough, some character sprites are reused and there are some issues with foreground objects. I don't know what's caused by a limited budget and what is just the design direction, but I can understand not liking that. I think it works though, and the main reasons I like the game is because of the story and atmosphere. When it comes to egonomy, I think The Cat Lady has every single point-and-click in history beat, since you don't use a mouse at all to play it. That's rarely something that makes or breaks a game for me though.
I try to include a link when I cover a crowdfunded game I know has been mentioned on TFC, but I might have forgotten to look it up a few times. :S: Were you thinking of a specific game?
As a matter of fact yes, I was thinking of a recent article of yours in which you initially failed to mention the game in question had been covered in TFC, hence the teasing. But for the life of me I just can't find it, so either a) my memory is messier than I thought or b) I spotted the missing TFC reference when said article was still in draft mode and the exchange took place in private, and not in the article comments section.
Really hope it's b)... :S:
Going over my older articles, I can't really figure out which you might be thinking of either, even though I suspect you're probably right. Could you be thinking of CO-OP: Decrypted, which I hadn't heard of until it was made available for Linux?
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muntdefems Jul 29, 2015
Going over my older articles, I can't really figure out which you might be thinking of either, even though I suspect you're probably right. Could you be thinking of CO-OP: Decrypted, which I hadn't heard of until it was made available for Linux?
Yes! That's it!! I can see it was an article by Liam actually, that explains why I couldn't find it looking at your list of published articles.
Thanks for (partially) restoring my sanity! :D
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Thanks for (partially) restoring my sanity! :D
Hehe. Glad I could help. ;)
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I run the Hidden Linux Gems group on Steam, where we highlight good indie games for Linux that we feel deserve more attention.
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