Fran Bow is an upcoming point and click horror game that promises to be one of the most creep game of its genre, as its creators Isak Martinsson and Natalia Figueroa explain.
See the game’s official website here: http://franbow.com/
What exactly is Fran Bow and how did the idea come about?
Fran Bow is a point and click adventure game, with a touch of horror. We will go aside Fran Bow in this troubled, horror, happy, funny journey!
The idea has been evolving since 2009. I, Natalia wrote a short film script for one of my animations, that then failed, mostly because of resources and experience.
And when we decided to actually start making games, Fran Bow was one of those ideas you couldn’t really let go… It was perfect for a story driven adventure game!
The story has evolved very much since the script from 2009 and now is almost ready to be played! OMG!
How long has the game been in development and has development been progressing smoothly?
At the end of 2012, we decided to start making Fran Bow. Back then we were doing it mostly after work, at night and weekends. But after a few months, we got really tired.
We love making games but we felt the need of money for basic needs was a big monster eating our souls… and our creative minds couldn’t carry both, normal work life and making the game, without forgetting our personal life as a couple!
So development came to a state of unstable. Up and downs. Until we decided to make a crowd funding to actually concentrate on the game 100%.
When people showed us that they believed in us and make the crowd funding a success, we quit our normal jobs to work on Fran Bow full time. Since the crowd funding campaign ended, we have been working mostly all the time. We haven’t really got any vacations either. We really love doing this project! And now we are in 2015 like if it was yesterday we started. But we will release this year, no doubt about it! :D
Do you think that there needs to be more point and click games?
If we talk to a very personal level, We think it’s needed. It is always fun to play point and click with many puzzles that feel fun and good stories. Also, we love to play them together as a couple and decipher the puzzles and see who is smarter! But just for fun of course! :D
What kind of character is Fran? Would you class her as being a heroine or simply someone dealing with the chaotic events thrown their way?
Fran for us is a hero of course! All she goes through is indeed very hard but she takes it with a bit of dark humor that really gives a bit of self awareness and remind us that life is hard but it also depends on how you see it.
But then again, all these feelings are very, very, very personal and maybe do not match the feelings of somebody else. The best would be to play the game and feel it for yourself :D
Can you tell us about some of the characters that she will encounter?
Ow… There are many characters, but it feels a bit of a spoiler to talk about them. We have already shown the horned monster in the demo, he is called Remor. We have also shown the twins and the guy in the long hat.
Also Mr. Midnight, Fran’s cat friend. There will be many, many more to interact with, but we don’t want to tell. :D
Can you tell us a bit more about the gameplay? Will there be a mixture of puzzles and exploration?
The gameplay is quite varied. A lot of puzzles all with different mechanics. You can open the bizarre world when taking the red pill. Also there is a huge amount of places to explore!
It really feels like a we put a lot of emphasis on variety of puzzles and it has also been the most difficult to achieve.
There are some more details but we really don’t want to spoil so much. It always feel so cool when you get to discover things by yourself :D !
What kind of art style will Fran Bow employ?
The art comes from Natalia’s hand!
It is a personal style that I have been developing through the years. Is all hand drawn, very detailed and I’m very proud of it. I know it may sound super nerd, but I even draw the little details on the wallpapers of the rooms or different textures on the ground. Every leaf and flower, every insignificant little thing is put there with so much love!!!! I hope people see my leafs and details :D Haha.. If not… well is OK too :D Also, the cut-scenes are in black-white-red colors, mostly to achieve a very simple and clear view of the happenings that Fran is experiencing.
How will the game scare its players?
Determining how people get scared by certain things is a very personal thing to do, and difficult! Isak, for example, doesn’t get scared by dark games filled with shadows because he lives on the northern hemisphere, but gets scared when people are too happy. So, we can’t really say this or that will scare you. Maybe this game will give you nightmares, maybe it will make you smile. The most important thing is that it makes you feel something.
Will there be a lot of graphic violence on display?
There will be some violent scenes that are connected to Fran’s mental state, yes. If it’s too much or too little is hard to determinate.
What else do you think makes Fran Bow unique?
Fran Bow is a sweetheart! She is such a cool character and her story can touch people in a personal level in many ways. We all have been through some rough times and we all have tried to live our life in the best way we can and all that combined with dark humor, little gore and funny puzzles, we think is very special for us!
