Fran Bow

Developed by a delightful Swedish duo, Fran Bow is a Tim Burtonish take on the traditional point and click adventure. Its saucereyed protagonist is Fran: a headstrong but fragile-looking little girl who is locked up in a mental institution after witnessing her parents’ grisly, mysterious, and evidently sanity-rattling murder. Imagine American McGee’s Alice, but likeable.

When the game begins, Fran is conniving to escape the institution and track down her beloved cat, Mr Midnight. You wouldn't think a pasty 12 year old would have much hope of escaping a lockeddown mental home, but then most pasty 12 year olds can’t take medication and peer through the veil of reality into the bulging eyes of the blood-soaked horrors that lurk beneath. Fran can. Also, she's pretty smart for her age.

According to developer Killmonday, the duality of Fran’s reality will be the driving force behind many of Fran Bow's puzzles, which puzzles animator/designer Natalia Figueroa describes as “very logical” which claim we’re totally going to hold her to come launch day. Because if there’s one thing that makes an otherwise charming adventure game sag it’s nonsense puzzles. (See, for example, LucasArts’ entire back catalogue save Fate of Atlantis.)