Fran Bow
Introduction to Fran Bow
Fran Bow is a creepy point-and-click adventure game about a young girl named Fran Bow dealing with a severe case of PTSD from witnessing her parents get murdered. At 10 years old, Fran is found alone in the forest, separated from her beloved cat Mr. Midnight who has gone missing. She is put in Oswald Asylum for severely traumatized children. The doctor, unsure of how to help her, attempts to treat her with medications. Duotine, one of her prescriptions, causes her to see the true evil haunting the asylum. After having a dream about her missing cat saying the pills could help her escape, Fran sets out on an adventure through the hospital. She rotates between the real world and the drugged world to solve puzzles and gain clues. During her journey, she encounters other children in the asylum. She seeks conversation with them, hoping for any chance that she could finally be set free. But is freedom really what it seems? This game also provides a journey into a magic realm as well, where Fran befriends mystical creatures and explores fantasy worlds trying to find her way home (GamesRadar).
Basic Game Information
Developer: Killmonday Games - an indie game studio founded in 2012, based in Sweden. It is run by a husband and wife duo. Isak Martinsson is the programmer and Natalia Martinsson is the artist and storywriter. (Killmonday Games)
Publisher: Killmonday Games
Platforms and their release dates:
- Windows, OS X, Linux: 27 August 2015
- Android: 16 February 2016
- iOS: 5 March 2016
- Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, PS4: 28 April 2023 (Wikipedia)
Genres: Adventure, Puzzle, Point-and-Click
Subgenres: Psychological Horror, Indie Horror, Story Game
Game Development
The name "Killmonday" was inspired by the creators mutual hatred towards Mondays. After founding their studio, they began creating their debut game, Fran Bow. The creators of Killmonday have expressed their love for making games inspired by personal stories, inspiring the players to connect strongly with the plot and characters. Fran Bow was inspired by Killmonday co-creator Natalia's own childhood experiences. Created with help from crowdfunding and Natalia’s design work, the world came to life (Killmonday Games). All of the characters in their games are part of a universe titled "The Ultrareality", that comprises of five realms (Killmonday Games). In an interview for the page Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Natalia has expressed how much the process of this game means to her. She enjoys being able to share her story and progress as a game developer with Isak, the other co-creator. Natalia described the process as "therapeutic" letting her let go of the troubles she has been through, coming to the realization that “shit happens and there are beautiful things awaiting for you to find” (Rock Paper Shotgun).
Game Mechanics
Fran Bow is played as a point-and-click puzzle game; the player is free to roam around the asylum by clicking where they wish to move. They must also click on objects to interact with them and find clues for their escape. Communicating with non-player characters happens by clicking on a character to see dialogue, where players can choose between options of how to respond (Wikipedia). Character dialogue can provide insight to solve puzzles. The key to the game is the bottle of pills at the bottom of the screen. Interacting with them lets you look into the gory world that hides the secrets of Fran’s story and her escape. Fran’s cat, Mr Midnight, is also an important part of the story plot, along with being an interactive character that you can play as during parts of the story. The player has an inventory as well, where there is the option to use, combine, or examine the objects inside. Sometimes, combining objects is necessary to solve puzzles, such as combining a knitting needle with a hair pin to open a lock. In some instances, the player will also be met with minigames, helping progress the plot and create a bit more of a challenge. The game has entirely original art and characters, as well as an original soundtrack. There have been updates on Fran Bow since it was published, but there is still a way to access the original game through Steam by choosing “Game Maker Legacy” on the launch screen (Killmonday Games). Due to the various triggering topics explored within the game, the game begins with a screen that gives trigger warnings.
Autoethnographic Components
Katie's Autoethnographic Component:
Fran Bow is one of the first horror video games I had ever played. It is special to me as I played it with someone who at one point in my life was incredibly special to me, so now I associate this game with the memories with that person. Honestly, the game evokes some feelings of sadness within me, and I find it difficult to play due to the person I associate the game with. Nevertheless, the game is so good that I push through the sadness to play it. The art style was very compelling and it is what originally intrigued me to play the game. I love the way contrast between the creepy themes presented in a cute and whimsical art style. Upon playing the game, I found myself captivated by the mechanic of taking medication to view an alternate reality. I think the way Killmonday made transporting to the medicated universe essential in solving some of the puzzles is an aspect that makes this game so unique and revolutionary in the world of point-and-click games. Additionally, I have a deep love for story games, as I find sandbox games and their endless possibilities to be overwhelming and I never know what to do. Fran Bow has such a beautiful storyline that leaves the players curious as to what happens next, and there is a clear story to follow which I appreciate in a game. As a former psychology major, the mental illness aspects of the game are also very fascinating to me, and it is interesting to see life through the lens of a severely traumatized little girl. I appreciate the mental illness themes in this game as it spreads awareness to the complexities some individuals face with mental illness and it does not romanticize or glorify mental illness as lots of media tends to do.
Nai'a's Autoethnographic Component:
This game matters to me because it tells the story of many children with mental health issues, specifically ptsd. As a person who struggles with my own mental health issues (though less severe than the children in the game), I find this game quite relatable and somewhat comforting. Something specific from the game that I connect with is the reappearance of the children having these shadow figures looming over them. As a kid, before I even knew of the game, I actually believed everyone had these entities with them all the time; the size of the entities was decided by how much baggage each person was holding on to. When I discovered Fran Bow and began to play, I could not believe that the thing I’ve been imagining for so long was in a game, that someone else had thought of that idea and decided to develop it into a story. This deep connection made the gameplay even more intense and entertaining, causing me to pay close attention to the story and smaller details in the graphics.
The Portrayal of Mental Health in Fran Bow
Fran Bow has tragic elements in it regarding the mental health of a 10 year old girl who has suffered deeply traumatic events such as the murder of her parents. Mental illness in video games is often shown in a way that propagates stereotypes, which can be dangerous and harmful, as over 1.8 billion people play video games worldwide (Ferrari et al.). In one study done in 2019 that studied 100 video games with themes of mental illness, approximately 30% of the games portrayed mentally ill characters as being violent or helpless (Ferrari et al.). Unfortunately, Fran Bow does perpetuate certain stereotypes, such as her needing to be locked up in an asylum as she is helpless on her own, and the goal of escaping the asylum. On the other hand, it also allows players to experience the perspective of severely traumatized children and the impact it can have on their lives. Natalia Martinsson, the storywriter of Fran Bow, released a statement on some video games representation of mental illness: "I have played many games that take mental illness like it's something funny. And I have to say, many don't have any idea of how unfair and sad it all is" (Rock Paper Shotgun). Natalia has made it clear that she created this game to share her story and to spread awareness to the reality of mental illness. There was a case study done on an actual child who had a very similar experience to Fran, where she also witnessed her parents being murdered. The comparison between this real life case and Fran is strikingly similar, with the real life case providing an insight into Fran’s mind. The real child experienced night terrors due to PTSD, similar to Fran’s horrifying nightmares she has in the game (Zeanah, Charles H., and Gloria Sax Burk). As the dialogue and thoughts within the game are from the perspective of Fran Bow, it is simplified in a child-like way. This shows players how children with mental illness go through the world, as Fran doesn’t really have a full grasp on everything going on. Throughout the game, Fran speaks to many other children in the asylum, who all behave very differently depending on what their backstories are. The way she interacts with her environment and the people in it are fascinating, as she often sees most things around her as being evil and trying to harm her. Her PTSD has made her very distrusting of others, causing her to question the motives of authority figures, such as the doctors and nurses. Her curiosity and desire to make sense of everything stems from the mystery of her parents death and the fact that she does not know how it happened. Her curiosity makes for interesting gameplay, as players have the ability to interact with almost all objects in the game, and it provides the ability to combine objects to try and solve puzzles. It can be theorized that the fantasy worlds within the game are a result of Fran’s mental illness and are hallucinations based on her trying to cope with her emotions by escaping reality. The whole game revolves around her attempts to cope with her trauma, as it is the basis to the way she behaves and thinks.
Body Horror
Horror as a genre is a very general term that includes many subgenres. However, all of the subgenres work together to achieve a common goal: “As a generic entity, horror forces us to evaluate the way terror impacts our bodies. The subgenres of horror propose a variety of emotional responses: unease, shock, disgust, anxiety” (Stopenski). In the book “Contemporary Body Horror”, scholar Xavier Aldana Reyes describes body horror as a “horror subgenre concerned with transformation, loss of control and the human body's susceptibility to disease, infection and external harm” that causes a “loss of a stable sense of human identity – and thereby turned the body and mind into concerted loci of fear”. The goal of body horror is to make players overtly aware of their own bodies and the atrocities that can come with having a body. It aims to cause fear as players feel vulnerable: “In fact, it is hard to think of the horror genre without thinking about the body’s messy and intimate materiality – its blood and guts, its painful vulnerabilities, its inevitable rot and decay” (“Body Horror”). While Fran Bow does not necessarily fall under the category of body horror, there are certainly some elements of body horror present within the game. There are stories/games ABOUT body horror, such as Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) where the main plot and horror elements surround body horror, and there are stories/games WITH body horror. “Stories with body horror use body horror the same way they use any other filmmaking or literary tool. It helps them strengthen their other themes, provoke an emotional reaction, or even simply raise the stakes” (Lewis). Lewis’ description perfectly encapsulates Fran Bow’s usage of body horror, as it is solely used as a tool that strengthens other themes within the game and causes emotional reactions in players. The use of body horror is prevalent when Fran takes her medication and is a product of her hallucinations due to her mental health issues. Fran’s medication gives her a view into an alternate reality which is quite gory, often depicting real people within the world as extremely gory figures with lots of blood and sometimes decapitation. The body horror showcased within Fran Bow twists and turns the body in ways that disturbs the audience and forces them to question the difference between what is human and what is monstrous (Stopenski). The visual presentation of body horror within media can vary depending on the overall artstyle of the game, according to Aldana Reyes “... body horror can foreground the depiction of grievous bodily harm, spectacularizing brutal attacks on characters and presenting the effects of violence aesthetically or in minute detail” (“Body Horror”). Due to the artstyle used in Fran Bow, body horror is presented in a very aesthetic manner, with cute pastel colours and bows tied on top. Overall, body horror serves to heighten the overall horror elements in Fran Bow by appearing when Fran takes her drugs to create a sense of vulnerability in players as they see bodies mutilated in realistic ways.
Full Gameplay
Works Cited
“About - Killmonday Games.” Killmonday Games, 7 Sept. 2023, killmondaygames.com/about/#.
Aldana Reyes, Xavier. “Body Horror.” The Cambridge Companion to American Horror. Ed. Stephen Shapiro and Mark Storey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. 107–119. Print. Cambridge Companions to Literature. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1017/9781009071550.
Aldana Reyes, Xavier. Contemporary Body Horror. 1st ed., Cambridge University Press, 2024.
Bellingham, Hope. “Fran Bow is a Deeply Unsettling Horror Game Tied Together With a Pastel Pink Ribbon, and It's Even Better the Second Time Around” GamesRadar+, 26 May 2023, www.gamesradar.com/fran-bow-is-a-deeply-unsettling-horror-game-tied-together-with-a-pastel-pink-ribbon-and-its-even-better-the-second-time-around.
Ferrari, Manuela, et al. “Gaming With Stigma: Analysis of Messages About Mental Illnesses in Video Games.” JMIR Mental Health, vol. 6, no. 5, 2019, p. e12418, https://doi.org/10.2196/12418.
“Fran Bow | Complete Gameplay Walkthrough - Full Game | No Commentary” YouTube, uploaded by Adventure Vault, 4 July 2022, https://youtu.be/xoIkWyL2t3k?si=Gi-TZbPZI_4wHvFw&t=1.
“Fran Bow / EShop Download / Nintendo EShop.” Nintendo Website, 2015, ec.nintendo.com/AU/en/titles/70010000062718.
Lewis, Shannon. “What Is Body Horror?” Slow Burn Horror, 17 Feb. 2023, slowburnhorror.com/2023/02/17/what-is-body-horror/
Stopenski, Carina. “Exploring Mutilation: Women, Affect, and the Body Horror Genre.” Sic, vol. 12, no. 2.12, 2022, https://doi.org/10.15291/sic/2.12.lc.1.
Walker, John. “Interview: Killmonday on Fran Bow, Mental Health, Beauty.” Rock Paper Shotgun, 22 Aug. 2013, www.rockpapershotgun.com/interview-killmonday-on-fran-bow-mental-health-beauty.
Wikipedia contributors. “Fran Bow.” Wikipedia, 2 Sept. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran_Bow.
Zeanah, Charles H., and Gloria Sax Burk. “A Young Child Who Witnessed Her Mother’s Murder: Therapeutic and Legal Considerations.” American Journal of Psychotherapy, vol. 38, no. 1, 1984, pp. 132–45, https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1984.38.1.132.
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