Little Misfortune

Last updated
Little Misfortune
Little Misfortune logo.png
Developer(s) Killmonday Games
Publisher(s) Killmonday Games
Designer(s) Natalia Martinsson
Programmer(s)
  • Isak Martinsson
  • Harald Wallin
  • Anton Bergman
Artist(s) Natalia Martinsson
Writer(s)
  • Isak Martinsson
  • Natalia Martinsson
Composer(s) Isak Martinsson
Engine Unity
Platform(s)
Release
    • Linux, macOS, Windows
    • September 18, 2019
    • Android, iOS
    • February 13, 2020
    • PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
    • May 29, 2020
Genre(s) Adventure, Horror [2] [3]
Mode(s) Single-player

Little Misfortune is a 2019 horror [2] adventure video game developed and published by the independent Swedish studio Killmonday Games. It released for Linux, macOS, and Windows on September 18, 2019, for Android and iOS on February 13, 2020, and for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on May 29, 2020. Set in the same universe as Fran Bow , [4] the game's titular character is Misfortune, an eight-year-old girl with a childlike naivety and a dark sense of humor. Misfortune, a self-described "little lady", is guided by a voice in her head, which she names Mr. Voice, in a game to seek the prize of eternal happiness for her mother. She is smitten with Benjamin, a non-verbal anthropomorphic fox whom Mr. Voice strongly warns Misfortune against interacting with.

Contents

Despite its initial child-friendly introduction, Misfortune quickly finds herself exposing or being exposed to numerous elements of shock humor, including death, alcoholism, substance abuse, suicide, nudity, profanity, grave robbery, strip clubs, demons, traffic collisions, cruelty to animals, and the grim reaper.

The titular character Misfortune is voiced by the game's writer, designer, and artist, Natalia Martinsson, who worked alongside husband, Isak Martinsson to create the game, as Henrik Norman voices Mr. Voice, the game's narrator and antagonist. Little Misfortune received mostly mixed reviews from critics.

Gameplay

Set in a 2.5D perspective, the player may only move forward or backwards. At certain points in the game the player has to make choices for Misfortune, which may trigger special animated cutscenes. The game will also prompt the player to guide Misfortune's hand to perform certain actions or play minigames, such as fixing a broken vase or playing Whack-A-Mole.

Plot

Set in 1993, [a] eight-year-old Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez lives a sad, lonely life with her abusive parents on the outskirts of the fictional town of Openfields, Sweden. [b] The narrator announces that today is the day that Misfortune will die, and is surprised when Misfortune says that she can hear him. The narrator, whom Misfortune calls Mr. Voice, invites Misfortune to play a game wherein she will make choices where "there is no right or wrong, only consequences", and for which the prize is eternal happiness. Misfortune accepts, hoping to win the prize for her mother, and Mr. Voice begins the game by asking her to leave the house. Following his prompts, Misfortune is guided through the streets of Openfields, encountering an anthropomorphic fox, whom she calls Benjamin, several times, who flees when she gets too close. Mr. Voice warns her against interacting with him.

Pursuing Benjamin, Misfortune discovers a book that explains that Mr. Voice is an other-dimensional being named "Morgo". Benjamin is evidently a "protector" who strives to protect children from Morgo but is forbidden from interacting with them directly. Escaping Morgo, Misfortune finds herself in her front yard, seeing her own corpse having been run over by a car, meaning that she has been a ghost for most of the journey. Benjamin leads her through a portal to the Fourth Reality where she encounters death, who had been expecting her. If Misfortune sprinkles glitter on 16 selected objects in the midst of the game, another ending will play where her mother receives Misfortune's happiness, takes off her mask and smiles.

Development

By the end of 2015, Killmonday had completed their first game, Fran Bow . It had been greenlit and was to be released on Steam. It had taken much more time than anticipated and Killmonday Games were out of money. [5] The sales of the game were crucial for them to be able to continue developing. After the success of Fran Bow, Killmonday started working on their then "secret game", which would later become Little Misfortune. [6]

On 11 July 2018, Killmonday announced the title of their new game. [7] In the following months updates on the progress of the game were uploaded to their YouTube channel, by the time of the release they had uploaded 26 weekly updates. [8] On 2 September Killmonday announced that the game would be released in just a little under three weeks, on 18 September 2019. The day before the release, it was announced that owners of Fran Bow would receive a 10% discount on Little Misfortune.

Reception

Little Misfortune received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the game's art style and thematic aspects but criticised the game's lack of gameplay,[ clarification needed ] mishandling of certain themes such as the naivety of children, and relatively short length. On Metacritic the game has a score of 57 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [9]

CD-Action gave the game a 45/100, writing "The story made me uneasy not because I thought: 'those are the kind of things that shouldn't be said out loud' but because I thought: it's unsettling how poorly it is written, how badly they depicted a child's naivety and how everything is just too over the top."[ citation needed ]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun gave the game a mixed review, saying "some topics, like abuse, underpin the entire narrative and broadly work to give it a grounding in true unpleasantness. But others, like suicide, feel tossed in for shock value before never being addressed again. That feeling isn't helped by the tonal mismatch that places these adult fears alongside much more juvenile humour. Jamming a poop joke after an instance of animal death does little but ensure that they trip one another up, where landing one on its feet alone was already tricky." [2]

Kotaku gave the game a more positive review, saying "While Little Misfortune's adventure isn't long (it took me about 2.5 hours to emerge from the other side), it is very meaningful. Misfortune is a bundle of pure joy, and she's a delight to spend time with, even if her adventures come to an abrupt end. While Misfortune breezes and bluffs her way past the darker parts of her story, including a journey through a racy hamster nightclub, players will be all too aware of the sinister world that she dances in." [12]

Adventure Gamers gave the game 3.5 out of 5 praising the game's voice acting and story, while criticizing lack of interactivity and moderation in "over-the-top awfulness". [13]

GamersPack gave the game a positive review saying "The game might be a little light on challenges or traditional gameplay, but it's full of (dark) humor and heart. Little Misfortune continues along the same grim path Killmonday Games started on with Fran Bow, so if you're into the mix of the cute and the macabre, this one is for you." [14]

Notes

  1. ↑ A newspaper can be discovered that shows the date as 1993.
  2. ↑ All signs are in Swedish.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Zelda</span> Video game character

Princess Zelda is a character in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda video game series. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto for the original 1986 game The Legend of Zelda. As one of the central characters in the series, she has appeared in the majority of the games in various incarnations. Zelda is the elf-like Hylian princess of the kingdom of Hyrule, an associate of the series protagonist Link, and bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom.

<i>The Operative: No One Lives Forever</i> 2000 video game

The Operative: No One Lives Forever is a first-person shooter video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Fox Interactive, released for Windows in 2000. The game was ported later to the PlayStation 2 and Mac OS X in 2002.

<i>The Colonels Bequest</i> 1989 video game by Roberta Williams

The Colonel's Bequest is a character-driven graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line featuring the character of Laura Bow. It was released for MS-DOS in 1989. Ports for Amiga and Atari ST were released in 1990. It was the first of the short-lived Laura Bow Mysteries series created by Roberta Williams, which used many elements from the game Mystery House. The Colonel's Bequest was created with SCI0, and employed 4-bit color and a typing interface. Its sequel The Dagger of Amon Ra was released in 1992.

<i>The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield</i> 1997 video game

The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield is an adventure video game developed by Digital Evolution, published by Fox Interactive and distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for Windows and Macintosh computers in 1997. The objective of the game is to explore a virtual representation of the fictional town Springfield featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. Throughout the town, there are various character cards that the player collects. It features dialogue performed by the cast members of the series. Critics have given Virtual Springfield mixed reviews. The plot and gameplay have been the target of criticism, while the game has been praised for its humor.

<i>Darkened Skye</i> 2002 video game

Darkened Skye is a third-person action-adventure video game developed by Boston Animation. It was released for Microsoft Windows and GameCube in North America in 2002 and the PAL regions in 2003. The game was also packaged with Outlaw Golf. Its title character is a young woman named Skye who lives in a fantasy realm searching for her mother. She can perform magic using Skittles candies as well as use her staff as a melee weapon; her staff becomes an energy weapon when used in conjunction with the Skittles.

<i>Star Warped</i> 1997 video game

Star Warped is a first-person point-and-click adventure video game that parodies the Star Wars universe, specifically the original trilogy released between 1977 and 1983: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. It was created by Parroty Interactive, which was a division of the game's publisher, Palladium Interactive. Star Warped was released in the United States and Canada, for both Windows PC and Macintosh, in late 1997 as a follow-up to their debut Myst parody, Pyst. The game is no longer in release, as Parroty's parent company folded after being bought by The Learning Company in 1998. The game invited players to "Be seduced by the power of the Dork Side". Star Warped received mixed reviews from critics: some praised the game's variety, originality, and humor, while others dismissed it as lazy, unfunny, and dull.

<i>Nancy Drew: The Secret of Shadow Ranch</i> 2004 video game

The Secret of Shadow Ranch is the tenth installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affect the actual plot of the game. The game is based on the book The Secret at Shadow Ranch (1931).

<i>Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku</i> 2004 action-adventure video game

Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku is an action-adventure video game released in 2004 by Adrenium Games and published by Sega and based on the Samurai Jack animated television series on Cartoon Network. It is the second game based on the series after Samurai Jack: The Amulet of Time on the Game Boy Advance a year prior. The series' original voice actors, including Phil LaMarr, Mako Iwamatsu, Jeff Bennett, John DiMaggio, and Jennifer Hale, reprised their respective roles for the game. The game was released for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. An Xbox version of the game was planned, but never released, even though it was included on the official Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility list.

<i>Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers</i> 1993 video game

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers is a 1993 point-and-click adventure game, created by Jane Jensen, developed and published by Sierra On-Line, and released for MS-DOS, Macintosh, and Windows on December 17, 1993. The game's story, featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Leah Remini, and Mark Hamill in the CD-ROM version, focuses on Gabriel Knight, a struggling novelist, whose decision to use a spate of recent murders around New Orleans as material for a new novel, leads him into a world of voodoo magic and the truth about his family's past as supernatural fighters.

There have been a variety of Sesame Street video games released for video game platforms. Most of the Sesame Street video games were published and developed by NewKidCo.

<i>Blazing Dragons</i> (video game) 1996 video game

Blazing Dragons is a point-and-click adventure game developed by the Illusions Gaming Company and published by Crystal Dynamics. It is based on the television series of the same name and was released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in late 1996.

<i>Ingrids Back</i> 1988 video game

Gnome Ranger II: Ingrid's Back is a text adventure game by Level 9 released in 1988. It is the sequel to Gnome Ranger The game has limited graphics on some platforms. A short novella by Peter McBride is included explaining the background to the story and providing hints for play.

There have been several King's Quest fangames both original and retellings/remakes of the original games that have been released by various developers.

<i>The Wolf Among Us</i> 2013 video game

The Wolf Among Us is an episodic graphic mystery adventure game developed by Telltale Games, based on Bill Willingham's Fables comic book series, to which it serves as a prequel. The game consists of five episodes that were released throughout 2013 and 2014. Retail versions for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles were made available in November 2014. In the game, the player controls Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of Fabletown – a clandestine community within 1980s New York City consisting of various fantastical characters from fairy tales and folklore – and must investigate a series of mysterious murders, the first ones to occur in Fabletown in a long time.

<i>Link: The Faces of Evil</i> and <i>Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon</i> 1993 video games

Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon are action-adventure games developed by Animation Magic and published by Philips Interactive Media for the CD-i on October 10, 1993, in North America and December 25 of the same year in Europe. They were released on the same day, were developed simultaneously, and look and play similarly because they use the same graphic engine. Both games are based on Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda franchise, but are not acknowledged as official, canonical entries and are the first two games of three Zelda games released for the CD-i. The third, Zelda's Adventure, was developed separately and plays differently.

<i>Fran Bow</i> 2015 video game

Fran Bow is a graphic adventure game with psychological horror elements developed and produced by Killmonday Games, a Swedish indie game studio. The game was released in 2015 for PC and in 2016 for mobile. In 2023, it was ported to the Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.

The Carol Reed Mysteries is a detective adventure video game series developed by MDNA Games. The series consists of 19 games to date, with the latest being released in January 2024. The next game, Murder Malady, is scheduled for release on January 1, 2025.

<i>The Willoughbys</i> 2020 film

The Willoughbys is a 2020 animated comedy film directed by Kris Pearn and co-directed by Rob Lodermeier, from a screenplay written by Pearn and Mark Stanleigh. Based on the book of the same name by Lois Lowry, the film stars the voices of Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Alessia Cara, Terry Crews, Martin Short, Jane Krakowski, Seán Cullen, and Ricky Gervais, who also narrates the film. The story follows four children trying to find new parents to replace their self-centered and neglectful ones.

<i>Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure</i> 2019 video game

Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Romanian developer Stuck In Attic for Windows, macOS, Linux and Nintendo Switch. It was released on August 7, 2019 on Steam and GOG.

<i>State of Mind</i> (video game) 2018 graphic adventure game

State of Mind is a 2018 graphic adventure game developed and published by Daedalic Entertainment. A cyberpunk story set in the near future, the game explores transhumanist themes. The game was released for Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One in August 2018. It received mixed reviews upon release.

References

  1. ↑ "Little Misfortune on Steam". SteamPowered.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-11. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  2. 1 2 3 Castello, Jay (20 September 2019). "Wot I Think: Little Misfortune". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Archived from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  3. ↑ "Little Misfortune". Killmonday Games. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  4. ↑ "Little Misfortune". KillmondayGames.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  5. ↑ "Killmonday Games AB". KillmondayGames.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  6. ↑ killmonday (2018-04-27). "News about the secret game". Killmonday Games. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  7. ↑ killmonday (2018-07-11). "Announcing: LITTLE MISFORTUNE". Killmonday Games. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  8. ↑ "Killmonday Games - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  9. 1 2 "Little Misfortune for PC Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2020-06-07. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  10. ↑ "Little Misfortune Reviews". OpenCritic .
  11. ↑ Wilkins, Shawn (14 February 2020). "'Little Misfortune' Review – Sometimes Glitter Makes Things Better". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on 2020-02-15. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  12. ↑ Williams, Leah (20 September 2019). "Little Misfortune Is a Strange Adventure About a Girl Destined to Die". Kotaku Australia . Archived from the original on 2019-09-22. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  13. ↑ McGovern, Merlina (25 September 2019). "Little Misfortune Review". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on 2019-09-29. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  14. ↑ Yuval, Guy (28 September 2019). "Little Misfortune Review: Happiness to the World". GamersPack. Archived from the original on 2019-10-31. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.