Little Misfortune, the game about a girl and the voice in her head, is out today

Little Misfortune is an oddball, oddly creepy adventure game from Fran Bow studio Killmonday Games about a little girl and her friend, Mr. Voice, who convinces her to embark upon a quest in the woods to discover Eternal Happiness. It looks and sounds kind of cute, as long as you don't pay too much mind to the underlying concept of a young girl being led into the forest by a voice in her head. That's pretty clearly disturbing—and, as far as I can tell, far closer to what the game is actually like.

The list of individual features hints at more weirdness. You can pet a doggy, a fishy, a wolfie, the Kraken, the kitty and the foxy; you can also visit a pet cemetery with a shovel. Fall in love. Commit petty crimes. There's a monster! Despite the often unpleasant strangeness all around her, Little Misfortune herself seems quite nice: She seeks Eternal Happiness not for herself, but as a gift for her mother, who doesn't talk to her and drinks too much "juice."

And remember: There is no right or wrong. Only consequences.

It looks like there will be moments of humor and sadness, and a pretty dark tone throughout, but the art, music, and voices are excellent, and as an exploration-adventure that careens off into unexpected (and also sometimes unpleasant—Little Misfortune's home life is really not good) places, I think it looks promising.

For those who don't share my confidence (or would just like a better idea of what exactly is going on here), a demo is available from Steam and Itch.io; the full game can be had at Steam, GOG, Humble, and Origin.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.