Fran Bow Download PC

Fran Bow is an independent dark fantasy adventure video game with a strong gothic horror aesthetic. It was developed and published by Killmonday Games in 2015.

Gameplay

Like other adventure games, gameplay involves seeking various objects in the game world in order to combine and use them to solve puzzles, and speaking with many characters to learn more about the world and how to progress. In one scene, the player controls the protagonist's cat. Additionally, a small portion of Fran Bow consists of mini games within the broader narrative that present more complex logical challenges.

Plot

Set in 1944, the game tells the story of Fran, a ten-year-old girl struggling with mental illness after witnessing the violent murder of her parents. After being found alone in the woods, Fran is admitted to Oswald Asylum and separated from her black cat and only friend, Mr. Midnight. Under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Marcel Deern, Fran is administered pills. The pills cause vivid hallucinations of a parallel hyperreality, filling the Oswald Asylum with smears of blood, mysterious messages, grisly torture, human subject research in psychology and neurology, and otherworldy shadow beings. Driven to escape her imprisonment, find her cat, and return home, Fran passes into this other world. Still searching for an explanation of her parents' murder, Fran finds herself transformed into a tree in a world called Ithersta, a land where vegetables and roots live in harmony. After departing Ithersta, she encounters a giant skeletal creature named Itward. Itward helps Fran in her search for her cat.

Throughout the game, Fran and other characters grapple with psychological trauma, survive the abuse of parents and doctors, and learn what it means to live amongst other humans and spirits.

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