Selected Mae sketches


secrets

for the best experience, you should check every area of the game every in-game day and speak with every character so you don't miss out on anything. here are some particularly cool ones

  • germ, lori, and mom each have some nice extra scenes you can unlock by talking to them at each chance you get
  • listen to selmers' poems every day to unlock the best one
  • you may meet miss rosa near the pretzel stand. talk to her to hear stories about grandpa
  • enter the room on the left upstairs and examine the boxes; after that, spend time with dad every night and he'll eventually clear them. behind the boxes there's a safe. you can find the code in the bookcase. after that, look for a related article when you're in the library and tell dad the next time you see him.
  • climb into the open window in town and explore the apartment to find the baby rats. steal a pretzel every day to feed them, they need it. there's also a little bedroom you can examine for different thoughts every day
  • in part three, you'll unlock the secret stage on the western part of town, and you'll start seeing a violinist on top of the first building in the town center. speak to him and talk to him the next day to unlock a concert
  • go on boat tours in the tunnels to get stuff to decorate mae's room with
  • on harfest (day 7), go east from the church and talk to the teens. mention "a shipwreck". they'll give you a quest to find some pentagrams
    • the first is in the secret stage, on the left
    • the second one is at the fouth hangout. with gregg, order donuts; with bea, talk to the "bombshell" girl
    • you can't miss the third one

etc

Mae's journal pages

playlist

Fire - Kimya Dawson
Nervous Young Inhumans - Car Seat Headrest
Brave as a Noun - AJJ
Change - Alex G
Fill In The Blank - Car Seat Headrest
Teenage Angst - Placebo
Rambling of a Dying Adolescence - Current Joys
Mud - Alex G
Something Soon - Car Seat Headrest
Big Black Car - Gregory Alan Isakov

Night in the Woods is a 2017 adventure game set in a world of zoomorphic humans (or anthropomorphic animals, but the human characteristics come first). The main character Mae lives in her parents' attic after dropping out of college. Over the course of the game she reconnects with her friends, explores the changes in her Rust Belt hometown, and uncovers a secret involving the disappearance of various people, including her friend Casey.

Mae witnesses a kidnapping, and she begins investigating it. She has several vivid dreams which are connected to her repressed anger and dissociation, and become more elaborate as her mental state worsens.

Over each day, Mae can hang out with various people, but she always has to pick between two of her friends, Bea and Gregg. Each have slightly different themes (one is about reconnecting with someone, the other is about struggling with a relationship that is changing) but they both lead to exclusive scenes in which each character is explored.

possum springs

At the center of Night in the Woods' incredible atmosphere is the town of Possum Springs, the main setting of the game.

The economic stagnation of the town affects everyone who lives in it. Class is a major theme of the game, discussed both via dialogue and via the plot, which depicts the exploitation of people "no one would miss" for the wellbeing of the powerful. Mental health is also explored, not in a clinical way, via labels, but in a blunt way, depicting the experiences of various people shaped by their circumstances - these, too, often tied to their economic situation. Mae's return to her hometown is the perfect inciting incident, as it connects to both her mental struggles (she believes a familiar setting will help with her dissociation) and with the theme of nostalgia.

Characters often reminisce about the past, discuss events they can't remember clearly, argue over what happened; the changes of their surrounding are disorienting, even to those who seek change. Mae tries to hold onto the memories she has of the people she lost and she's afraid of adulthood.

The history of the town, and the workers' rights, which Mae's grandfather was part of, are explored too. Music, a big part of the game, plays into it as well, painting a picture of the specific local culture and people.

nitw & me

I first played the game when I was in highschool and loved it; I saw myself in Mae, in her struggles and her attitude, in her fears. It was very comforting to me. Plus, I loved everything about the style and the atmosphere. I came back to it on my second year of university, after losing my grandfather, and I connected with it even more.

I feel like this game takes things I have felt and articulates them better than I could in words. It helped me open up about my dissociation, reflect on the relationships I have with people, with my family, life. As I said, it's difficult to put into words; every time I replay it I find a new aspect I connect to.

I've had friends like Bea and like Gregg and like Angus, I've had talks with my parents like Mae has; I suppose most people have, even though the game is not generic in its writing at all. The other characters' struggles, too, are things I relate to; I share their fears and their joys.

There are other little details that make Mae particularly relatable to me: having "nightmare eyes", playing music and not being very good at it, journaling, the way she talks, etc. I find her deeply relatable.

My grandfather was a lot like Mae's grandfather. I love that there's a character like him out there, who talks like him and has the same values as him, who has lived a similar life. In a way, it's like everyone who plays it gets to experience him, even though the character was obviously not based on him. Mae trying to reconstruct his life is something I've gone through too, I know the joy you get from each little fact, every anecdote, every detail.

This scene means so much to me.




characters

Mae Borowski is the main and player character in Night in the Woods. She's a 20 year old college dropout. She has issues with anger and depression which turned into dissociation, culminating into a violent episode in her younger years. She's a nostalgic and caring person, albeit rude on the surface.


Bea Santello is Mae's childhood best friend, with whom she reconnects during the game after they stopped talking to each other in 7th grade. A series of negative events, coupled with her economic situation, has made her pessimistic and gloomy. She's responsible and grounded.


Gregg Lee is Mae's best friend and Angus' boyfriend. He's energetic, impulsive, and rebellious. Despite his optimism, he secretly fears he will ruin his relationship with Angus and gets stuck in negative thoughts when he's alone. He often jokes around with his friends, but he also frequently asks them how they're doing and he's always willing to help them if needed.


Angus Delaney is Gregg's boyfriend. He's quiet, rational, and shy. He cares about others but he doesn't display it as openly as other characters.


Lori Meyers is a teenager who hangs out on the rooftops in the town center. Mae can hang out with her on various days. She's socially awkward and morbid, with a passion for horror and filmmaking.


Mae's grandfather died before the events of the game, but his presence his felt throughout. He was very close with Mae, and she often talks about him. He appears as a ghost in one scene, watching over Mae as she sleeps.



quotes

"I get it. This won't stop until I die. But when I die, I want it to hurt. When my friends leave, when I have to let go, when this entire town is wiped off the map, I want it to hurt. Bad. I want to lose. I want to get beaten up. I want to hold on until I'm thrown off and everything ends. And you know what? Until that happens, I want to hope again. And I want it to hurt. Because that means it meant something. It means I am something, at least... pretty amazing to be something, at least..."

"Little creature, you are not chosen. There is nothing to choose you. This is going nowhere. We are not meeting again. And the universe is forgetting you, and I am remembering you. But not because I am caring. The beginning is moments ago, the end is moments away. There is no time to forget before all is forgotten."

Mae: Do you think we'd be friends if we weren't, like, stuck together in the same town? Like we were stuck together in Girl Scouts? Like... uh... is this just... what's the word?
Bea: Proximity?
Mae: Yeah.
Bea: I don't know. I honestly don't. My entire life feels like running after something that keeps moving away into the distance, while I stay in the same place... and I guess proximity counts for a lot right now.