Richie Rambles: The Best Video Game You’ve Never Played

Yes, the title is presumptuous of me, but I’m 99.9% sure you haven’t played this game. Unlike my other deep-dives on video games that interest me, this will simply be a ramble about why I love this game so much. If it’s interesting to anyone, I will gladly do a deep-dive! Regardless of what you think by the end of this blog, this game is cheap on Steam and you should play it. 

The day is June 14th, 2011. I am simply a baby, I have no idea the importance of this day. For on this day the game Alice: Madness Returns is released. This game follows the main character, Alice Liddell, and her adventures through Wonderland. In this game, Alice lost her parents and sister in a house fire. This fire severely burnt Alice and, after being accused of starting the fire, Alice was forced to live in an asylum. She is watched by a doctor (who only traumatizes her more), until being transferred to a home for wayward children. She is treated horribly by the staff and other children who live there, as many believe her to be a murder (at worst) or simply a weirdo (at best). 

The artstyle of the game is my favorite part. With this grim twist on Alice in Wonderland, playing around with character designs and the settings is the most vital part- and this game does an excellent job. The dark and dingy normal world, the steampunk land where the Mad Hatter lives, the colorful and dangerous forest where you first meet the Cheshire cat- Everything is detailed perfectly. Every character is throughout in design, personality, and storyline. Despite the dark twist, the familiar characters of Alice in Wonderland still have many of their recognizable traits. The Chesire cat is playful and mysterious, the Queen of Hearts is power hungry and fueled by rage, and the Caterpillar is a wise oracle. 

My favorite part is that, to go along with these new environments, Alice gets a new outfit! It’s a minor detail, but it’s vital in keeping everything cohesive. 

While the story is very dark, and I definatly encourage people to be careful before playing (not only to watch out for gore, but also for the dark topics), I still highly encourage anyone interested to do more research and play this game! The gameplay is difficult, but fun, and the graphics are a bit outdated, but it adds to the charm. This game is one of the best examples of a story told through the video game medium (in my opinion) and more people should know about it!!

Author: Richie Stover

hello! i'm richie (he/they). i've always viewed writing as the best way to communicate the millions of overlapping ideas i have swirling around in my brain at all times. sometimes verbalization isn't easy, and writing has become an outlet for me to be unapologetically myself. whether it's through poetry, short stories, essays, or plain rambles; i always feel complete when i'm able to write out my thoughts.

One thought on “Richie Rambles: The Best Video Game You’ve Never Played”

  1. I love things based off Alice in wonderland and woah my goodness, I have never heard of this before. Well, I haven’t heard about a lot of games but still, this looks really cool.

Leave a Reply