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Review
Frankenstein is at it again… and you’re the severed hand of one of the victims he butchered to make his creation. It seems you have unfinished business.
First impressions
Tone-wise, I thought Frankenfingers would take one of two routes: Either being full of humor (after all, a sentient severed hand?) or a gross fest (again, sentient severed hand). Instead, it sets a blend of melancholy, desperation, optimism, and yearning. And the story is told through poetry!
You're a handsome left hand, seemingly male, from the wrist two bones protrude. Around the ring finger you see an impression, where once was a band but now nude.
Despite what the title and cover art suggests, it’s not exactly a gory game. In fact, (Spoiler - click to show)Igor’s death is the only explicit scene that stood out, and even that is surprisingly low-key. And unlike the hands in the cover art, the hand we play as still has skin. I think most players will feel comfortable with this game. The use of poetry probably also downplays the ick.
Gameplay
As I mentioned, we play as a severed hand. We crawl around Frankenstein’s house with a vague feeling that there is someone we need to return to. Someone outside the house.
The gameplay later clarifies that the overarching goal is to (Spoiler - click to show)recover your ring so your wife, Penelope, will recognize you. Otherwise, she will understandably flip out when she sees the severed human hand crawl through her house’s window.
Frankenfingers takes place on a moderate sized map consisting of Frankenstein’s house, its yard, and the nearby town. I enjoyed this layout and how each area is revealed in stages. (Spoiler - click to show)Initially, you are limited to the house. Then, you gain access to the outdoors when the front door gets destroyed. Once outside, you can explore the house’s property, but the town is only accessible once you have a horse.
Overall, a smooth way of introducing new areas to the player.
Puzzles
I liked the puzzles. They involve creative thinking without being too technical. Its puzzles are generally rooted in common sense. I did need the walkthrough for one of the earlier puzzles: (Spoiler - click to show)fixing the wire. The walkthrough helpfully clarified that I needed an object to connect the two wires together.
The horse-riding puzzle, unfortunately, was a pain.
(Spoiler - click to show)You pull the left and right reins to steer the horse as she moves. However, she would keep moving before I turned her towards the right direction. In one case, I ended up inside the house since she would go in any direction than the one I wanted.
And if she were pointed the right way, she wouldn’t move. The room description would read, (on Buttercup, facing [the direction I want], on the move). Despite saying “on the move,” she wouldn’t move. If I pulled on the reins, she would start to walk… in the wrong direction.
To work around this, I would maneuver her in the right direction, get off so she stops, get back on, and then use the crop to get her to move forward (the crop only gets her to move once she’s stopped moving). So, that was a struggle.
The only other complaint I have is a possible unwinnable state. In my first playthrough I ran into a problem with the two lighters. They both died. It seems that I used up their juice by lighting them while exploring and/or fooling around which was unexpected. I had no way of seeing (Spoiler - click to show)what was inside the box buried in the graveyard. I restarted the game.
> light lighter
The lighter seems to be dead.
Perhaps that’s my own careless fault, not the game’s. Do not waste the lighters!
Story
Frankenfingers advertises itself as “A Gothic Tale of Love, Redemption, and Dismemberment,” and we get to see all three.
The dismemberment part takes place before the game begins, thankfully. Frankenstein and (Spoiler - click to show)Igor have been kidnapping villagers and using them as “donors” for experimentation, cutting up their bodies and burying any possessions to avoid suspicion. The creature in Frankenstein’s lab is made of body parts from these villagers, including that of the protagonist who was merely traveling home to his wife and daughter.
If love is what brought the severed hand to life, redemption is the part that drives the protagonist to (Spoiler - click to show)go home one last time.
(Spoiler - click to show)After finding the wedding ring, we travel to the protagonist’s house. When we reach the yard, the game happily kicks us in the feels. The yard is lovingly landscaped with Penelope’s favorite flowers. What a lovely little house. You enter the window, and what do you see? A nursery. Of course, it would be a nursery. Really, game? Things are sad enough as it is.
It’s a powerful way to end the game. Penelope comes it, sees the ring, and- go play it.
Additional thoughts: The ending says that she does not know if he’s dead. However, his name is listed in the obituary section of the newspaper, which suggests that she will eventually be notified by the newspaper or another source. At least here she has some closure. Then again, she’s probably wondering exactly how/why her husband has been reduced to a sentient hand… (Now that he’s transcended, I wonder what she will do with his hand? Keep it? Or just the ring?).
Characters
Frankenfingers is proof that even a severed hand can be something players will want to root for. My feelings about being a severed hand were not of disgust. In fact, there was something oddly endearing about a hand wearing a purse to cart around useful items while exploring a gothic household.
The protagonist isn’t out for vengeance or violence. We don’t sense anger or hatred. Only longing for what’s important. Motivated by (Spoiler - click to show)Penelope’s handbag and the smell of her perfume, the protagonist embarks with quiet determination to reunite with her, no matter how brief that reunion may be.
And surprising empathy is extended towards (Spoiler - click to show)Frankenstein’s monster who is merely referred to as “the creature.” He sees us and understands how we feel. We feel for him too.
Final thoughts
Frankenfingers is not the first interactive fiction game I’ve played that features a body part as a protagonist, but it certainly stands out and has left a lasting impression with its overlapping of gothic horror and love. I was not expecting the depth of emotion found in the final scene.
I’m giving it four stars because of the horse puzzle. It could use further refinement, or at least have the walkthrough further explain how the reigns work. Other than that, I am pleased with my experience. If you want a horror game with humanizing qualities, play Frankenfingers.
