"What do you want, Iggy? What do you wish for more than anything else in the whole world?"
Our Wonderland is a Ren'Py-based episodic Visual Novel horror game by Carrot Patch Games, of Easter fame, released from 2021 to 2024.
Eleven-year-old Iggy wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he dragged his friends out to the woods to attempt a strange ritual from a book he found in the dumpster at school, but his wildest imagination couldn’t have prepared him for the land of wonder and magic that awaited them at the bottom of that old willow tree.
Now, however, it’s twenty years later, and he and his friends are past the age of make-believe. The wonderland of their youth has become nothing more than a far-off dream, until one night, Bucks and her newborn daughter disappear without a trace. Soon, Iggy and his friends find themselves being pulled back into that world of childish glee—only their wishes and desires aren’t so innocent anymore, and the world has twisted itself into a land of corruption, evil, and lust that’s scarcely recognizable.
The original visual novel can be downloaded here
.
Spinoffs
- Our Fantastic Wonderland (2022) - A D&D-style fantasy spinoff story
- Texting the Awkward Ace Guy You've Had a Crush on Since High School (2023) - Made for the "Only One of Any Asset (O2A2) Queer Edition Jam 2023!", it features Genzou trying to confess his crush to Iggy via text messages.
- Save the Last Dance (2023) - A short side game starring Orlam and Genzou, taking place sometime during Act 2.
- Our Cinderella (2023) - A winter fairytale-themed stat-management sim made for the 2023 Winter VN and Once Upon a Time VN Jams, where Iggy is trying to prepare for a Christmas party held by one of his friends (and possibly also find love)
Our Wonderland contains examples of:
- Adjustable Censorship: The Act 5 Part 1 update added a Censored Mode, which blurs all pictures of extreme violence (though text descriptions and minor wounds are left unaltered), as well as a Streaming Mode that mutes background music that could be copyright-claimed.
- Abusive Parents:
- Orlam's father was at least emotionally abusive, to the point his wife killed herself because she couldn't take it anymore.
- Gidget's mother is very perfectionist and pressures her to get married and be more feminine.
- Aerith and Bob: A staple of Carrot Patch games. In how many groups can there be a Iggy, Genzou and Bucks alongside an Orlam and a Gidget?
- All Just a Dream: Subverted. At one point near the end of Arc 5, it looks like the story is gonna go out with a Twist Ending. The gang wakes up in the forest as children just like they were at the beginning of the game. Then it turns out that the time travel and experiences at Wonderland were real when Iggy finds the Saydie doll.
- All Men Are Perverts: Averted. Genzou and Orlam never try to force themselves on Iggy during their own arcs, unlike Gidget.
- Alternate Timeline: Any time Iggy tries to alter a past event to save his friends results in one of these, each increasingly worse or more bizarre than the previous.
- Anti-Villain: Orlam and Gidget become this upon entering Wonderland, the former becoming an evil dictator while the latter becomes an idol who tries to sexually assault Iggy. It's treated as response to years and years of abuse coupled with a deteriorated mental state.
- Arc Words: "What do you want, Iggy? What do you wish for more than anything else in the whole world?". Said first to Iggy, who is the only one in the gang who doesn't have any desires. It all ties together at the end when it's revealed Iggy had spend so many time loops trying to make up for his mistakes that he never thought about what he wanted for himself.
- Attempted Rape: Gidget is uncomfortably close to doing this to Iggy at Wonderland, were it not for Genzou's intervention.
- Babies Make Everything Better: So much averted with Bucks. She believed that a life with Hunar and a child, the things that other people her age had, was what she wanted. Not only the baby puts a fair amount of strain on their marriage, it culminates with Bucks using her as a blood sacrifice to enter Wonderland.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Bucks wanted to get away from her husband and child, believing that if she were in a world where she wouldn't have any responsabilities, she would be happier. By the time Iggy finds her, she is clearly unhinged by this decision, killing anyone that stumbles upon her on the paranoid delusion that they want to send her back to the real world.
- Beard of Sorrow: Genzou grows one after regaining his memories of the timelines.
- "Better if Not Born" Plot: The end of Arc 1 invokes this trope. Iggy wishes to be erased from existence to make life better for the people he knew.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Gidget and Orlam, as once they enter Wonderland they grow a bit more backbone. Gidget becomes more agressive in her romantical pursuit of Iggy, while Orlam starts pushing back against Genzou. Then Iggy rejects Gidget and Genzou brushes off the years he bullied Orlam and the two REALLY turn out to be no one to mess with.
- Boys Like Creepy Critters: Averted. Arc 5 shows that The Lad-ette Bucks has no problems touching spiders. The boys and the trans male Gidget? Not so much.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday:
- Iggy was the one who encouraged Gidget to become a model. He was only being nice, but said talk motivated her to become a famous model and gives her a purpose to live for.
- Genzou has so little regard for Orlam that he acts with confusion after the latter calls him out on bullying him for years, though it’s possible that he was just saying that to be a dick.Orlam: Genzou? Serious? He couldn't be serious if his life depended on it. Except maybe when tormenting me. You always took that pretty seriously, didn't you?Genzou: Oh god, is that what this is about? You butthurt I picked on you when we were kids? Get a life.
- Butt-Monkey: Iggy and his friends usually end up suffering in one way or another in many timelines, but Orlam takes the cake. Not only he's treated like crap by Genzou and doesn't get any respect in the group, but even his family and acquitances find him creepy and unsettling.
- Coming of Age Story: One that goes horribly, horribly wrong. Upon entering Wonderland, Gidget, Orlam and Bucks embrace their new hedonist lives in Wonderland and start to grow a backbone. Unfortunately, it's what leads them to react so strongly at the end.
- Deconstructed Trope: Of Set Right What Once Went Wrong stories.
- Sure, Iggy can revise the past and try to fix things, but that doesn't mean he remembers previous loops or he succeeds.
- It's hinted his friends do remember to some extent (such as Genzou acting more subdued, Orlam's Revenge by Proxy and Gidget being bolder in her pursuit of Iggy) only to make things worse.
- Destructive Romance: Genzou and Orlam were in one, that the former started because he wanted a distraction from his parents divorcing. It ended when Genzou finally got over the incident, causing Orlam to snap.
- Despair Event Horizon: Iggy suffers from this a lot. Naturally, when you see your friends die and rewind time to save everyone only to fail over and over again, naturally, you would be broken.
- Did Not Get the Girl: At the end of Arc 5, Hunar realizes the only way for Bucks to be happy is to prevent them from getting married, so that she wouldn't end up stuck in a bleak marriage. They call off the wedding, though they eventually do years later, now more emotionally mature.
- Dogged Nice Guy:
- Gidget spends a lot of time pining after Iggy and trying to get him open up to her. Iggy, being the insensitive type, usually regards her affections with indifference or annoyance.
- Implied to be the reason why Orlam puts up with Genzou. Once he gets over it in Arc 5 he has no problem snarking at Genzou, who's too filled with guilt to talk back.
- Entitled to Have You: Perhaps due to her mother's high expectations on her and people rejecting her for being non-binary, Gidget feels entitled to things that she believes the world denied her, and will do anything to get recompensated. She treats Iggy like a big prize and forces herself on him when he refuses her even in her own arc.Gidget: But I thought you would, Iggy....you of all people! I gave up everything for you! I wanted to be perfect for you!
- Establishing Character Moment: We're first introduced to the main characters as children, and their reactions sets up their personalities.
- Iggy's first scene is calling out his friends from their antics. As you might expect from this, he's the Only Sane Man of the gang.
- Genzou first appears as a typical bully, only to show his softer side to Iggy.
- Orlam is picked on by his friends (especially Genzou) and pathetically tries to impose respect.
- Gidget doesn't hide her obvious attraction to Iggy, sitting next to him and agreeing with everything he says.
- Bucks is the only one who isn't scared of the Wonderland ritual, even squealing in delight upon seeing blood.
- Fat Best Friend: Genzou is the Big and Brash type.
- Foreshadowing
- Bucks says that she'd sell her soul for a moment of peace away from her baby daughter. She kills her to enter Wonderland.
- Orlam jokes that the company he works for makes their products with dead baby cells and jokes further by saying he could get some of Saydie's cells. Guess what happens to Saydie right after.
- When Orlam defends his job and insists it's important, Genzou jokes that he'll be king in his next life. Orlam does become the King of Wonderland soon after.
- Saydie seems interested in Iggy during the party, staring at him constantly. She communicates with him in his dreams, begging to put an end to her misery.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Happens to the gang (and Hunar) in varying degrees after they regain their memories of all the time loops.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: The cast is revealed to be trapped in one, and them "remembering" what's happened before further deteriorates their psyches.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Orlam not only killed some of Wonderland's residents to avoid food expenses, he also takes a liking to eating it himself. He'll even go as far as eating Genzou and Iggy in some bad endings.
- Living Emotional Crutch:
- Gidget greatly depends on Iggy on her quest to fill her family's high expectations, believing that if she becomes an ideal woman, he will love her. Iggy himself is completely unaware of this dependence, which is why things start to go south when he rejects her romantically. And then it gets worse...
- In Arc 3, Iggy somehow manages to stabilize Orlam.
- Iggy and Genzou became hugely codependent throughout the history, especially in Arc 5. At the beginning they were just friends, then Genzou was briefly promoted to love interest, and then they needed each other to keep their sanity while their world collapsed, and their friends got corrupted by their darkest desires. At one point Iggy begs Genzou not to leave him, and he answers he'll never, ever, leave him.
- As it turns out, Genzou treated Orlam as one after his parents divorced, even starting a semi-romantic relationship. Once he got better, Genzou broke off the whole thing, leaving Orlam alone and used.
- Longing for Fictionland: One of the cruelest deconstructions of this trope. The protagonist's life has been really depressing, and all his friends are worse off than before he met them. They enter their personal paradise so that whatever they wanted most all their life is finally theirs, but they each end up making things worse for them and/or himself.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: What Wonderland seems to be.
- Love Martyr: In varying degrees.
- Genzou is well-aware of Iggy's deep-rooted issues and asexuality but sticks by him in spite of it.
- Gidget relentlessly pursues and loves Iggy, to the point of changing her hobbies to appeal to him more.
- Orlam idealized Genzou in elementary school and had a crush on him, despite Genzou treating him like crap. After a certain Noodle Incident at prom, Orlam has nothing but contempt for him.
- Loves the Sound of Screaming: In Arc 2, Gidget becomes addicted to Iggy's screams as she's brutally assaulting him. In fact, she loves it so much that she finds something new to love about him and decides to hit him some more.
- Multiple Endings:
- Arc 1: Iggy barely escapes Gidget's rape attempt and Genzou is mortally injured while escaping Orlam's castle. While looking for help, Iggy stumbles into Bucks, who reveals that she killed her daughter so she could enter Wonderland and be away from her familiar duties. Convinced that Iggy is there to take her back to the real world, she kills him with her axe. Feeling guilty that he truly never understood his friends, Iggy wishes to disappear, just so his loved ones can live their lives without his damaging influence.
- Arc 2: Same as the above, except that Genzou survives Orlam's castle. The two then run into Bucks, who kills Genzou out of paranoia. Iggy snaps and brutally kills her. Having lost everyone, he wishes to make his pain stop.
- Arc 3: Iggy kills Gidget in self-defense and Orlam turns Genzou into meatloaf and forces Iggy to eat it. Iggy and Orlam then proceed to rule Wonderland for months until they run into Bucks, who kills Orlam. Iggy runs away and wishes for the voice that's been following him since he entered Wonderland to stop tormenting him.
- Arc 4: Iggy tells Gidget about his asexuality, only for her to reject him. Orlam turns Genzou into meatloaf and Gidget kills him to prevent him from eating Iggy as well. Iggy and Gidget run into Bucks's empty cabin, where she tries to rape him. Then Bucks enters the cabin, killing them both.
- Arc 5: With Saydie's help, Iggy destroys the Wishing Tree, saving the gang from a never-ending loop of misery. However, this causes her to be erased from existence. Iggy and his friends are happier and better adjusted, the real Cecil reunites with Gidget and Jerry is implied to be reborn as a human. While Bucks and Hunar decide to pursue their dreams, they do get married on their own terms and it's implied that Saydie might get another shot in this "fixed" reality.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Bucks's real name (Buxley) is only mentioned once.
- Only Sane Man: Hunar, being the only one without any psychological issues.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Pretty much every friendship Iggy can develop is destructive in some fashion. Gidget is psychotically obsessed with him to the point of being willing to restrain and repeatedly rape him, Genzou becomes more callous of Orlam when Iggy is around, and his words caused Bucks to enter into a loveless marriage with Hunar. At the end of Arc 1, he realizes that any long-term relationship with him is dangerous, and wishes to erase himself from existence. Though thanks to Character Development he becomes a positive influence in the final timeline.
- The Many Deaths of You: Well, it is an horror game. And that's not even mentioning how they died in previous loops.
- The Power of Friendship: The game revolves around this. It's friendship that helps the group live through their problems, even if they can't exactly get over them.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: It's stated that only the blood of a child can open the access to Wonderland, and by the time the timeskip happens, Iggy and his friends are too old to have activated it. As it turns out, Bucks killed her own daughter to enter Wonderland.
- Rape as Drama: Played to horrifying effects.
- Ret-Gone: Saydie nullifying her own existence at the end of Arc 5.
- Sadistic Choice: Since this game has no happy endings (except for the last arc) every single choice you make basically just decides how Iggy will meet his end.
- Sanity Slippage: Everyone, but it is most obvious with Iggy. Each arc shows you a more tragic and/or crazy Iggy than the last. It's especially bad in Arc 3, which gets rather....unpleasant.
- Scare Chord: Occasionally.
- Shout-Out: In Arc 3, Gidget mocks Iggy and his Selective Obliviousness, stating he "never notices what's in front of him". Just like Olie in Easter.
- Spiritual Antithesis: The whole game is intended to be one for Easter, coming from the same author.
- Easter Mitchour was a troubled protagonist, while his friends had more carefree lives and were unaware of his issues, while Iggy Maxwell is more adjusted yet is completely unaware of his friends' troubled lives and issues.
- Easter's Central Theme was hatred and how it can change people, while Our Wonderland is centered around love changing people for the best or the worst.
- Suicide for Others' Happiness:
- Arc 1 has Iggy erasing his own existence with the magic of the Wishing Tree. The people Iggy cares about, for whose sake he does this, do in fact go on to lead better and happier lives.
- Saydie does this at the end of Arc 5, preventing her parents from being stuck in a loveless marriage.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- Hunar tells Bucks to "stop living in a fantasy world and grow up" so she would stop being irresponsible and take care of their child. She gets the idea to escape to Wonderland instead, using the baby as a blood sacrifice.
- Iggy is technically responsible for most of Gidget's issues. By telling her to quit computer programming and pursue girlier interests, Iggy inadvertently pushed her further into the Despair Event Horizon, resulting in Gidget forcing herself to be girlier in order to be accepted.
- Who's Laughing Now?: With all the bullying he goes through, nobody is surprised when Orlam snaps and wishes to become the king of Wonderland to enslave everyone and get back at Genzou.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Every time Iggy's relationship with the character of their own arc takes a step forward, expect the plot to come in and kick everyone in the stomach.
