History VideoGame / MyFriendlyNeighborhood

** Hidden in the out of bounds section in stage four by the makeup room is a portrait of a buff Wednesday-like woman in a white tank top looming over an animatronic rat resembling the rat from FNAF fangame Five Nights at Candy's. This is a reference to YA horror novel Lola's Haunter by J. Neira - J. Neira is a backer of the developer.

** The game outright subverts the "hidden lore" angle of these games through [[spoiler: there being none at all. The reason why the puppets went mad isn't some ancient supernatural threat, or some undead creature- they simply got bored being locked up for years, and couldn't handle the emotional weight of what the modern world was like when they got exposed to it through TV. In fact, them being alive isn't given a supernatural explanation either; in true [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] fashion, living puppets are just seen as normal in this world.]]

-->[[spoiler:[[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood Ricky: "Won't you be our neighbor?"]]]]

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Amusingly, when you use the health stations, it explains why you have the stereotypical 'slow plod' of a survival horror protagonist: Gordon's old, fat, and has asthma.

%%the game is out, so review of these tropes for citations WILL be necessary, as this page appears to have been constructed with the assumption that none of the content in the demo would be in the final game

* TalkativeLoon: The puppets babble nonstop regardless of what they're doing. Most of their dialogue consists of bubbly anecdotes and stories, that sounds rather harmless and generic if you aren't paying attention, but actually describe things that are bizarre and sinister, such as chipper instructions for ''swallowing your own hands.''

* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: In the climax of the game where Gordon finally makes his way to the antennae. [[spoiler:Right after he deactivates it, a sudden lightning flash disorients him and leads to him falling from the antennae, right into a massive well. Despite falling what is essentially the highest peak of a skyscraper and then going directly into a deep hole. He [[TrashLanding survives by landing on a massive pile of trash]]]].

* TrashLanding: [[spoiler:After disabling the antennae, a sudden flash of lightning disorients Gordon and leads him to falling off the antennae and directly into a massive deep hole. Good news, [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou there's trash for him to land on to break his fall]]. Bad news, he has directly landed inside of the ''Un''friendly Neighborhood.]]

* UniqueEnemy: The hidden Stage 5 area contains a couple of puppet enemies with pirate-themed clothing. These are found nowhere else in the game.

** Good endings: [[spoiler:Despite disabling the antenna, Gordon can discreetly help the puppets restart their show for a while before departing, only to spend his days wondering how they are doing without him ('''One More Season'''). If he [[GoldenEnding went out of his way to help certain characters]] throughout his quest, then he's fired for his actions and ends up sticking with the puppets for good. He finds happiness in this, comparing the effects of ''My Friendly Neighborhood'' on the city to a sunrise leading people to their homes ('''Morning''')]]

** Bad endings: [[spoiler:If Gordon escapes from the studio at any point after first meeting Ricky in the Hotel trying to pull a ScrewThisImOuttaHere, he's fired for not shutting down the show ('''Unfinished Work'''). If he leaves after disabling the antenna and escaping from the Unfriendly Neighborhood, he's congratulated by his boss instead and gets promoted to manager ('''Canceled Yet Again'''). In either case, the bizarre incident leaves no repercussions.]]

* ShoutOut: The studio is filled with posters for {{Fictional Counterpart}}s of various Creator/JimHenson films and shows, including ''[[Film/TheMuppetMovie The Puppets' Road Trip!]]'', ''[[Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper The Puppets' Big Heist]]'', ''[[Series/FraggleRock Wubmump Caverns]]'', ''[[{{Film/Labyrinth}} The Mystic Maze]]'', ''[[Film/TheDarkCrystal The Shadow Sapphire]]'', ''[[Film/MuppetTreasureIsland Puppet Pirate's Cove]]'', ''[[Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol A Puppet Winter Song]]'', ''[[Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan The Puppets Storm Chicago: A Musical Movie]]'', ''[[Series/TheStoryteller The Scribe]]'', and ''[[Film/MuppetsFromSpace Puppet Space Quest]]''.

** Good endings: [[spoiler:Despite disabling the antenna, Gordon can discreetly help the puppets restart their show for a while before departing, only to spend his days wondering how they are doing without him ('''One More Season'''). If he [[GoldenEnding went out of his way to help certain characters]] throughout his quest, then he's fired for his actions and ends up sticking with the puppets for good. He finds happiness in this, comparing the effects of ''My Friendly Neighborhood'' on the city to a sunrise leading people to their homes. ('''Morning''')]]

** Bad endings: [[spoiler:If Gordon escapes from the studio at any point after first meeting Ricky in the Hotel trying to pull a ScrewThisImOuttaHere, he's fired for not shutting down the show. If he leaves after disabling the antenna and escaping from the Unfriendly Neighborhood, he's congratulated by his boss instead and gets promoted to manager. In either case, the bizarre incident leaves no repercussions.]]
** Good endings: [[spoiler:Despite disabling the antenna, Gordon can discreetly help the puppets restart their show for a while before departing, only to spend his days wondering how they are doing without him. If he [[GoldenEnding went out of his way to help certain characters]] throughout his quest, then he's fired for his actions and ends up sticking with the puppets for good. He finds happiness in this, comparing the effects of ''My Friendly Neighborhood'' on the city to a sunrise leading people to their homes.]]

* KickThemWhileTheyreDown: One of Norman's ramblings about how he had an argument with Leonard[[note]]The same dialogue is said with Leonard (mentioning Junebug), and Junebug (mentioning Pearl)[[/note]]:

* ObliviouslyEvil: The puppets have child-like minds or they are in a mental state of adolescence. As a result, they aren't aware of how strong they are or how they are playing too rough with Gordon as they try to hug him. They always gleefully babble on about nonsensical stuff, whether they're standing idle, attacking Gordon, or tied up.

** The game outright subverts the "hidden lore" angle of these games through [[spoiler: there being none at all. The reason why the puppets went mad isn't some ancient supernatural threat, or some undead creature- they simply got bored being locked up for years, and couldn't handle the emotional weight of what the modern world was like when they got exposed to it through TV.]]

** Putting the 5 theater masks in a certain order on the busts of the 5 main puppets in the Hotel lobby will unlock the door to the right of the Lenard bust which reveals a beeping safe. Inputting the release dates of ''MFN'''s trailers opens it up to reveal a slip of paper with a QR code that when scaned, takes you to the official ''My Friendly Neighborhood'' Discord server.

** Putting the 5 theater masks in a certain order on the busts of the 5 main puppets will unlock the door to the right of the Lenard busts which reveals a beeping safe. Inputting the release dates of ''MFN'''s trailers opens it up to reveal a slip of paper with a QR code that when scaned, takes you to the official ''My Friendly Neighborhood'' Discord server.

*** But then of course, that's DoubleSubverted with [[spoiler:the UnFriendly Neighborhood and its residents]], who are MUCH more in line with what you would usually expect.

* ThrowTheBomblette: One of the weapons that can be found through the game is the Punctuation, a grenade that causes letter explosions when thrown.

** Bad endings: [[spoiler:If Gordon escapes from the studioat any point after first meeting Ricky in the Hotel trying to pull a ScrewThisImOuttaHere, he's fired for not shutting down the show. If he leaves after disabling the antenna and escaping from the Unfriendly Neighborhood, he's congratulated by his boss instead and gets promoted to manager. In either case, the bizarre incident leaves no repercussions.]]

** Bad endings: [[spoiler:If Gordon escapes from the studio after the first boss fight trying to pull a ScrewThisImOuttaHere, he's fired for not shutting down the show. If he leaves after disabling the antenna and escaping from the Unfriendly Neighborhood, he's congratulated by his boss instead and gets promoted to manager. In either case, the bizarre incident leaves no repercussions.]]

** Gordon himself is a large deconstruction of the protagonists of these kinds of games. Not only is he a grown adult (where most of this genre is filled with child protagonists) but he has a pretty defined backstory that influences his behaviour. [[spoiler: He's a veteran of the War, and his surly attitude is a result of the terrors he went through. The path to the good ending is about Gordon learning to love the bright side of his life again, through helping the puppets and becoming a parental figure to them.]]

* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The mice puppets that can be found in the Basement and ocassionally Offic areas definitely qualify with their plump design and cute little squeaks.

* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The mice puppets that can be found in the basement area definitely qualify with their plump design and cute little squeaks.

** Whereas the traditional focus of these games is to galk and be repulsed by the disfigured mascots on display, this game makes them more of a figure of sympathy. [[spoiler: The puppets lost their minds after discovering how awful the outside world can be, and with no adults around to help them through these issues, they descended into total despair. The best ending sees Gordon sacrifice his job to help the puppets, giving them the sympathy they need to begin healing.]]

For years, the colorful puppets of ''The Friendly Neighborhood'' delighted children across the nation. But since then, interest has waned and the money's run out. Nowadays, production's shut down. Or did it? Recently, ''The Friendly Neighborhood'' has started broadcasting again for a holiday special. But something's amiss... are the cast ''eating each other?''\\
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You play as Gordon O'Brian, a grouchy repairman sent to check up on the mysterious goings-on in the allegedly abandoned studio. But while trying to get to the antenna on the roof, you end up trapped with a bunch of not so friendly puppet-friends. Can you solve every puzzle, fend off every advance from the puppets and get to the bottom of this? Or will you stay in this neighborhood... forever?\\
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* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The map for the Basement/Sewers updates to note the location of the fuses required to open a door in the area after finding the note in the breaker box when it's opened.