History VideoGame / AmericanMcGeesAlice

->''Here's a riddle: When is a croquet mallet like a billy club? I'll tell you: [[ImprovisedWeapon Whenever you want it to be]].''

->''Here's a riddle: When is a croquet mallet like a billy club? I'll tell you: Whenever you want it to be.''

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Dormouse and March Hare, especially Dormouse. It even digests Alice if she gets too close.

* ManEatingPlant: The Evil Mushroom. Okay, not actually plant, but plays the role.

* CreepyChild: Alice herself.

* DeadpanSnarker: Both Alice and the Cheshire Cat.

* BottomlessPit: Many levels have dark voids in which Alice can fall to her doom.

* FungusHumongous: The giant, flesh-eating mushrooms.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Dormouse and March Hare, especially Dormouse.

One of the most disturbing video games ever released, ''American [=McGee=]'s Alice'' revolves around the titular character of the ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' series. Released in late 2000 by ElectronicArts, and helmed by {{id Software}} alumnus American [=McGee=], a former level designer for the ''{{Doom}}'' and ''{{Quake}}'' franchises, in his first role as project lead.

* BladeOnAStick: The various mook Cards wield creative pole weapons reflecting their suits, eg: morning stars for the Club soldiers, Tridents for Spades and so on.

* DevelopmentHell: Not for the game itself, but for the movie adaptation, which has gone on for years. It was questioned if an animated film based on the game would happen (regardless of [[AnimationAgeGhetto people mistaking it for Disney's Alice]]). However a fan made trailer of Alice Returns uses stop-motion (similar to veins of the likeness of Tim Burton), this so far is the closest thing that can happen for AM Alice for animation.
** With [[TimBurton Tim Burton's]] release of ''his'' DarkerAndEdgier version [[Film/AliceInWonderland Alice In Wonderland]] out now, it's safe to guess that the movie is just not gonna happen.

* FollowTheLeader: The entire plot is about an institutionalized Alice returning to a darker, trippier, overthrown Wonderland, which is very similar to Dorothy's adventures in the '80s film ''{{Return to Oz}}''. Despite that fact, it managed to be popular with the public (unlike the movie). Also more awesome.

* HappyPlace: Subverted. This is what Wonderland ''used'' to be.

* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Possibly justified, since American [=McGee=]'s Alice is very different from LewisCarroll's, but even so it has been said of the game that if you're going to put your own name in the title, it's better if people actually know who you are. The game had amazing graphics for its time, and it was heavily publicized that it was built on the then-cutting edge ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena'' engine. American [=McGee=] had been a designer for id Software and worked on the earlier ''Quake'' games, as well as its predecessor franchise ''{{Doom}}''. A good portion of the target audience - 3D action gamers - were well aware of who he was.

Alice Liddell's family members are killed in a fire, of which she is the only survivor. The trauma leaves her mostly catatonic and suicidal, and she is institutionalized in Rutledge Asylum. Years later, the White Rabbit summons Alice to aid a radically altered Wonderland, now under the despotic rule of the Queen of Hearts.

* AllThereInTheManual: The manual here including [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass]], as well as the journal of the staff psychiatrist.

* CheshireCatGrin: The Cheshire Cat, naturally, though his grin is actually a mix of CheshireCatGrin, SlasherSmile, and pure NightmareFuel.

* MentalWorld: And how [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel delightfully]] [[MadnessMakeover mental]] it is!

* CheshireCatGrin: The Cheshire Cat, naturally, though his grin is actually a mix of CheshireCatGrin, SlasherSmile, and pure NightmareFuelUnleaded.

* RatedMForMoney: Apparently, Alice's insanity means DarkerAndEdgier, HighOctaneNightmareFuel, violence, bloody decapitations, sorts of stuff Alice probably wouldn't have ''imagined'' by that point in her life (considering she was catatonic after all), and the ads seemed to merely show that this is ''not'' the family friendly ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' that Lewis Carrol gave us. Apparently, ExecutiveMeddling is to be blamed for this, since [[WordOfGod American McGee himself]] has stated in an interview that the developers were pushed to make the game a lot Darker, Edgier, Bloodier and Gorier than they had originally envisioned it. But then again, [[TropesAreJustTools this is not necessarily a bad thing.]]

** There are also other items, like a rarely found cricket filled with tea (Just go with it) that turns Alice into some kind of fairy with super speed, and even rarer vial that makes alice into...something you don't get a proper look at because it turns invisible.

* FollowTheLeader: The entire plot is about an institutionalized Alice returning to a darker, trippier, overthrown Wonderland, which is very similar to Dorothy's adventures in the '80s film ''{{Return to Oz}}''. Despite that fact, it managed to be popular with the public [[BetterThanItSounds (unlike the movie)]]. Also more awesome.

* PopculturalOsmosis: Some of the elements claimed to be from the original story are actually lifted straight from the Disney adaption, such as the Cheshire Cat and only specific food altering Alice's body shape, and only in specific proportions. In the books every food eaten in Wonderland (except for a bit of tea she has with the Mad Hatter) altered the shape of her body, and not always in proportion. Odd they would leave this out, as it gave them perfect opportunity to use what was played as RuleOfFunny in the books as BodyHorror instead...

One of the most disturbing video games ever released, ''American [=McGee=]'s Alice'' revolves around the titular character of the ''AliceInWonderland'' series. Released in late 2000 by ElectronicArts, and helmed by {{id Software}} alumnus American [=McGee=], a former level designer for the ''{{Doom}}'' and ''{{Quake}}'' franchises, in his first role as project lead.

* AllThereInTheManual: The manual here including [[AliceInWonderland Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass]], as well as the journal of the staff psychiatrist.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The whole game, compared to what one would expect from something called AliceInWonderland.

* RatedMForMoney: Apparently, Alice's insanity means DarkerAndEdgier, HighOctaneNightmareFuel, violence, bloody decapitations, sorts of stuff Alice probably wouldn't have ''imagined'' by that point in her life (considering she was catatonic after all), and the ads seemed to merely show that this is ''not'' the family friendly ''AliceInWonderland'' that Lewis Carrol gave us. Apparently, ExecutiveMeddling is to be blamed for this, since [[WordOfGod American McGee himself]] has stated in an interview that the developers were pushed to make the game a lot Darker, Edgier, Bloodier and Gorier than they had originally envisioned it. But then again, [[TropesAreJustTools this is not necessarily a bad thing.]]

* PopculturalOsmosis: Some of the elements claimed to be from the original story are actually lifted straight from the Disney adaption, such as the Cheshire Cat and only specific food altering Alice's body shape, and only in specific proportions. In the books every food eaten in wonderland (except for a bit of tea she has with the Mad Hatter) altered the shape of her body, and not always in proportion. Odd they would leave this out, as it gave them perfect opportunity to use what was played as RuleOfFunny in the books as BodyHorror instead...

* RoomFullOfCrazy: Though it's more like an asylum full of crazy -- look at the walls in the Hatter level and you can faintly see he's been scribbling on them. (And there's the bloody "You're Next" warnings to boot.)

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness - The game [[AllThereInTheManual comes with the journal]] of Alice's psychiatrist, who's gradually drawn into her descriptions of Wonderland and their disturbing synchronicity with the asylum's own mysterious characters.

* NestedMouths: The Queen of Hearts monster has the Mad Hatter's face inside her mouth, with Alice's face inside his. See this at [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9tDTj6ltL8 4:11 in this video]].

* GlasgowGrin: All the Insane Children apper to have these cut into their faces.

* AllThereInTheManual: The manual here including [[AliceInWonderland Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass]].

* YourHeadASplode: [[spoiler:The Duchess]], [[spoiler:The Mad Hatter]] and [[spoiler:The Cheshire Cat]] die this way. [[IGotBetter They Got Better]] [[spoiler:in the sequel]] though.