Adventure · August 27, 2015

Fran Bow (2015)

calendar_todayAge 13+trophy18 achievementsextension2 DLClocal_offer-70% current discountgroup1M–10M ownersrecommend18.7k recommendations

Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny. After witnessing the gruesome and mysterious loss of her parents, found dismembered at their home, Fran rushes into the woods, together with her only friend, Mr. Midnight, a black cat that Fran had previously received as a present from her parents. In the forest, Fran goes into shock over the loss of her parents and when she recovers, she’s at Oswald Asylum, an oppressive mental institution for children, and Mr. Midnight is nowhere to be found. After having a dream about her beloved cat, Fran decides to escape from the mental institution to find him and go back home to Aunt Grace, her only living relative. Features Story driven creepy psychological horror adventure game. Unique and peculiar hand drawn 2D Art-Style and 2D animation. Self administer medication to open the terrible hidden world that will help solve puzzles and find objects. A big variety of puzzles designed with different levels of difficulty and specifically based on the story. Three arcade inspired mini-games all with different art style to be part of the transitions in the story. Interactive and occasionally playable pet cat, Mr Midnight. 50+ interactive unique characters with unique personalities. Original Soundtrack.

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Position in Adventure

Metric	This title	Genre position
Review volume	19.0k Steam reviews	Top 13% in Adventure
Positive rating	97% positive	Genre average: 87% — this title sits in top 15%
Metacritic	70/100	Genre average 77 — top 84% of Adventure titles
Engagement hours	10 h average	Top 36% for session depth among Adventure

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

Psychological Horror · 850
Story Rich · 661
Point & Click · 650
Puzzle · 618
Horror · 552
Adventure · 495
Indie · 457
Dark · 436
Singleplayer · 367
Atmospheric · 352
Female Protagonist · 335
Gore · 329
Psychological · 328
Surreal · 260
Dark Fantasy · 243

Peer Adventure titles

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2020 · 99% · 50.7k

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2020 · 99% · 31.2k

ATRI -My Dear Moments-

2020 · 99% · 20.9k

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2019 · 99% · 19.1k · 82/100 MC

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2021 · 99% · 16.3k

Grimm's Hollow

2019 · 99% · 13.9k

Reception Metrics

Steam community

97%Overwhelmingly Positive · 19.0k reviews

18.4k positive · 570 negative

Metacritic

70/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Curator recommendations

18.7k

Press Quotes

“…imaginative, strange, unsettling, intelligent and charged with a rare and beautiful sense of hope.” RockPaperShotgun “Fran Bow makes you love its main character even as you hate her for dragging you to these gruesome places.” IndieGames “I often get feelings while playing this game that I haven’t experienced in quite some time.” TruePCGaming

Features & Capabilities

Community

Steam Achievements
Steam Trading Cards
Remote Play on Phone
Remote Play on Tablet

Other

Single-player
Family Sharing

Release & Availability

Release date	Aug 27, 2015
Developer	Killmonday Games AB
Base price	$4.49 -70%
Required age	13+
DLC / Add-ons	2 released
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners	1M–10M
External links	Official site · Metacritic page · Support · [email protected]

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (6)

English
German
Spanish - Spain
Russian
French
Portuguese - Brazil

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

10h

short (5–15 hours)

Median

Typical completion time

Achievements

Steam unlocks available

Content Notes

THIS GAME CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES AND SCENES OF EXPLICIT VIOLENCE, GORE, SELF-HARM, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, ANIMAL CRUELTY, BODY HORROR, MENTAL ILLNESSES, FLASHING IMAGES AND DRUG USAGE. These themes are presented through the creative thinking of Fran, a young child who undergoes trauma. The game is sprinkled with fantasy, innocence and her endless curiosity. However, it may still be distressing to some…

Editions & Packages

Buy Fran Bow