by Riley Fontana
“Night in the Woods” is a 2017 indie adventure game produced by Infinite Fall and published by Finji. Its horror elements and muddled color palette make this 2D side scroller come to life, bringing all of its characters with it. It offers players basic game controllers including walk, run, jump, and interact with objects. Its punk rock soundtrack helps the game stand out in the genre of indie adventures along with the themes of change, mental health, and the horrors of a seemingly innocent small town the game tackles head-on.
The story follows Mae Borowski as she adjusts to life back in run-down Possom Springs after dropping out of college. Almost everything has changed: the town, her friends, the weather. The only thing that feels unchanged is her parents. Her mother, Candy, and father, Stan, have not changed at all, and are constant support throughout the story. Through conversations with Candy in the mornings and watching TV with Stan at night, players unlock more stories and a deeper understanding of Mae’s character. Mae’s parents are still married, both alive, and incredibly caring towards Mae, and because of this, she does not always see how good her family life is until she begins to talk with her friends.
Mae’s relationship with her parents can be strained at times, but it is clear they care deeply for their only child. The game opens with Mae being forgotten at the train station, but both her parents apologize profusely and begin to show their age to Mae. Mae notes her father looks older in her notebook (see Image 1), which she carries to help her stay in touch with reality. Mae is far from spoiled but just how good her relationship she has with her parents is becomes incredibly clear as she hears about what her friends have been going through.
Image 1: Mae’s notebook, Photo courtesy of: Imgur. ©2017 Infinite Fall.
The first interaction with one of Mae’s parents is with her father when she returns home. He jumps in fright when Mae announces her presence and immediately says they thought she was coming home tomorrow. He follows up by asking how Mae got home and she says she walked until she was picked up by her Aunt Molly, a police officer, where Stan says “Did you say to Molly for me?” This conversation is where the dynamics of the Borowksi family are being set up for the rest of the game.
It is no secret that Mae is struggling with her mental health. In the first conversation with her mom players unlock the line, “Honey, you can tell me if something happened.” (see Image 2) While this can be brushed off as something a parent has to ask their child after a major life change, Candy gives Mae the space to decline to talk about school and allows Mae to run off to see her friends immediately. This first interaction immediately builds Candy’s character as a loving, understanding, and worried parent to Mae.
Image 2: Mae and her mom in the mornings, Photo courtesy of: Checkpoint Gaming. ©2017 Infinite Fall.
Once Mae leaves her house she goes out to find her friends from high school: Gregg, Bea, and Angus. All of her friends have changed so much in the two years she was away, and it becomes obvious quickly how much older mentally her friends are than Mae. Gregg and Angus are living together and planning to move out of Possum Springs. Bea is working running her father’s store, The Ol’ Pickaxe. Mae struggles with the fact her friends have lives outside of the antics they got up to as teenagers.
The game really takes off on the third day, especially in terms of family and Mae’s friends. After checking in with Bea and Aunt Molly, the group heads to a party in the woods. Mae embarrasses herself in front of everyone, including an ex-boyfriend when she gets too drunk, prompting Bea to drive her home. The car ride home starts to drive a wedge between the two ex-best friends as Mae rambles. Mae brings up Bea’s mom and how nice she thinks her mom is. Bea snaps at Mae and says “My mother is dead” and “She died. Of cancer. Senior year. . .” Mae babbles an apology, and Bea asks “How do you not know this? Did you forget about my dead mom?” (See Image 3) What follows is Bea ranting at Mae about how selfish she can be, bringing up how lucky Mae is for being able to go to college and how Bea would kill for a chance at that. The car ride comes to an end after this with Bea dropping Mae off in her house.
Image 3: Bea telling Mae “My mother is dead.”, Photo courtesy of: Mothmanly. ©2017 Infinite Fall.
Bea’s comments do not stick with Mae quite yet, especially in her inebriated state. As Mae spends more time with other people in the group and allows herself to get absorbed in a local mystery, she learns more about each person’s family, and just how good her family is.
On day four, the game branches into two main storylines depending on if players spend time with Bea or Gregg. Because Bea’s family is discussed above, her pathway will be discussed first.
Bea’s storyline
Bea and Mae spend the first night hanging around the Fort Lucenne Mall where Mae begins to see just how much of a toll work is taking on her friend. While Mae jumps and climbs around on the sculpture art, Bea simply sits because her body hurts so much after working all day. The next night, Mae accompanies Bea on a work call to fix a furnace where she finds herself explaining to Mae why people need jobs. When they get trapped inside the basement, Bea calls out Mae’s immaturity again by saying “Yeah you go look around a whole bunch,” as Bea actually attempts to get them free.
On the fifth night with Bea, players tag along to go grocery shopping and make dinner for Bea and her dad. After they eat, Bea and her father begin to argue about the hardware store and who owns it vs who is running it. This is where it becomes clear to Mea that Bea’s father is struggling with the grief of losing his wife and can barely function normally around the house. He has left Bea entirely in charge of his store and does not care about the toll it is taking on her. Bea and Mae get into an argument where Bea reveals she has people who have hurt others in the past still on staff because she can’t fire anyone; in fact, she can’t do anything at the store she wants. Bea screams at Mae “A lot of times people do the things they do because they can’t do anything else!,” which seems to be somewhat of a wake-up call to Mae.
The last night spent with Bea is attending a party in a college town a few miles away. This really seems to be a turning point in their friendship as Mae realizes this is all Bea has ever wanted: to cut loose and fit in somewhere. Because of her father’s instability, Bea was never even given this chance and Mae threw it all away when she left college. Bea runs from the party and then rants to Mae about how badly she wishes for what Mae got. Bea says “When my mom died my life ended too,” really emphasizing to Mae just how good she has it. (See Image 4)
Image 4: Bea telling Mae “And I’m trapped in that stupid hardware store”, Photo courtesy of: Messofangeo. ©2017 Infinite Fall.
Bea’s storyline continues after Harfest when she and Mae investigate the library together, but no more comes out about each other’s family as it’s a hard-coded event and the first six nights where players choose who they hang out is when friendships develop and secrets are shared.
Gregg’s storyline
If players choose to not hang out with Bea, they hang out with Gregg who is just as immature as Mae but understands that he needs to grow up. The first night players hang out with Gregg, they break into the old Food Donkey to steal an animatronic and throw pierogies into each other’s mouths. At dinner, Gregg reveals to Mae that he is planning on moving to Bright Harbor with Angus and wants to start a life with him. This plan takes Mae by surprise as Gregg has never been mature, especially not mature enough to live on his own. Angus however has always been more mature than his years and balances Gregg out very well.
Throughout their time together, Gregg never mentions his family and has a few comments about Angus’s family dinners. Compared to Bea’s storyline, where it is very clearly laid out that her family is dysfunctional and she carries the weight of two adults and a store on her back, Gregg’s focuses more on immaturity and the lack of control in his life. It is revealed to players that Gregg has an affinity for crimes and that he and Mae got in trouble a lot in high school. Players can piece together that Gregg lacks stability in his life and that starts with his parents. Through Gregg, players get insights into Angus’s life with his family during a hard coded unavoidable hike up to Possum Jump with Angus.
At the end of their hike, they design constellations (see Image 5), and Angus begins to tell Mae about his childhood and why he knows so much about the stars. “Um my dad used to hit me a lot and my mom was probably worse. She like wouldn’t feed me.” He continues to recount his tales of childhood abuse to Mae who has no idea how to act. Angus reveals to Mae that he never told anyone out of guilt it was his own fault he was abused and explains to Mae why he still visits his mom and brother sometimes out of obligation. This scene is agonizing to play through because of how loving and full of life Angus seems to be throughout the entire game. Angus trusts Mae with information he held close to his chest his entire life, things he hadn’t told anyone until he met Gregg a few years prior.
Image 5: Mae and Angus sit on a log. Photo courtesy of: Video Game News. ©2017 Infinite Fall.
Throughout the entire game of “Night in the Woods”, Mae never realizes just how good her home life is until she sees what her friends are dealing with. Mae goes to visit her mom at work every day and spends the nights watching television with her father; she is still sheltered from the world’s problems like her family struggles with money, what her parents face every day at work, and the reality of what comes after dropping out college. She spends the game running through town ignorant of just how scary and real the world is. Mae only learns about work and other families through her friends and other town folks.
Image 6: Mae asleep on a pew surrounded by the game NPCs. Photo courtesy of: Joshiball. ©2017 Infinite Fall.
Mae only realizes how lucky she is with her family towards the end of the game. She wakes from a coma-like state surrounded by her family and friends. (See Image 6) When she wakes up to find her mom, dad, and neighbors surrounding her and praying for her health, she begins to notice how cared about she is. In the following days after her coma, her parents ramp up their worry for her and make sure she always has a friend at her side. Mae finally realizes how good her family and life are after a near-death experience. Coming to terms with life after a near-death experience is a fairly common trope in media, and Mae Borowski is no different. She learns to love and appreciate what she has through hearing about the hardships and family dynamics of her friends.
