Mondo Medicals
{{Short description|2007 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Mondo Medicals
| designer = Jonatan Söderström
| platforms = Windows, Macintosh
| released = Windows{{Video game release|WW|{{Start date|2007|09|13}}{{cite web |url= http://cactusquid.com/games.htm |title= Games |website= CACTUSQUID.com |last1= Söderström |first1= Jonatan |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140216201725/http://cactusquid.com/games.htm |archive-date= 16 February 2014 |url-status= dead }}}}Macintosh{{Video game release|WW|{{Start date|2010|12|24}}{{cite web |url= http://cactusquid.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-mac-ports-and-mondo.html |title= New Mac Ports and Mondo |last1= Söderström |first1= Jonatan |date= 24 December 2010 |website= CACTUSQUID.com |type= Blog post |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 19 April 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110419225018/http://cactusquid.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-mac-ports-and-mondo.html |url-status= live }}}}
| genre = Puzzle
| engine = Game Maker{{cite web |url= http://www.indiegames.com/2010/12/more_game_maker_mac_os_x_ports.html |title= More Game Maker Mac OS X Ports |last1= W. |first1= Tim |date= 26 December 2010 |website= IndieGames.com |publisher= UBM TechWeb |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 8 September 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180908002426/http://www.indiegames.com/2010/12/more_game_maker_mac_os_x_ports.html |url-status= dead }}
| modes = Single-player
| image =
| caption =
}}
Mondo Medicals is a freeware puzzle and indie game developed by Jonatan Söderström, released for Microsoft Windows on September 13, 2007 and later for macOS on December 24, 2010. The game involves the player trying to reach an exit in several mazelike levels by solving counterintuitive puzzles, against the backdrop of a surreal narrative revolving around the search for the cure for cancer.
The game saw recognition in the indie game community and was praised for its unique artistic style and atmosphere, though it was also criticized for its repetitiveness.
Plot
File:MondoMedicals-Opening.png
In the opening cutscene, a character greets the nameless protagonist, who is stated to have applied to participate in researching the cure for cancer. It is then explained that the protagonist must first undergo a test.{{cite video game |title= Mondo Medicals |developer= Jonatan Söderström |date=2007-09-13 |platform=Microsoft Windows |scene= Introductory cutscene |quote= Welcome to Mondo Medicals! / You have applied for research! / You will help us help you! / Help to find the cure for cancer! / First we need to verify you! / A test will perform this!}} The game proper then begins.
Gameplay
File:MondoMedicals-Cutscene.png
Each of the levels is a featureless, gray maze. The player, seeing the action in first-person view, must navigate to the exit.{{cite book |last= Rose |first= Mike |year= 2011 |title= 250 Indie Games You Must Play |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WsnzL0HYWEcC&pg=PA89 |location= Boca Raton, FL |publisher= A K Peters/CRC Press |isbn= 978-1-4398-7574-2 |page=89 |access-date= 4 January 2014}} Doing so often involves deliberately disobeying instructions and overcoming unusual, counter-intuitive{{cite web |url= http://palgn.com.au/19859/halloween-2011-fear-for-free/ |title= Halloween 2011: Fear for Free |last1= Chen |first1= Bev |date= 28 October 2011 |website= PALGN |access-date= 4 January 2014 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20140105090702/http://palgn.com.au/19859/halloween-2011-fear-for-free/ |archive-date= 5 January 2014 |url-status= dead }} puzzle-solving challenges; for example, the first level is a looping corridor with arrows painted on the floor. Following the arrows leaves the player going in circles. The player must disobey the arrows and go backwards to find the exit.{{cite journal |last= Hunt |first=Stuart |date= 3 January 2008 |title= Mondo Medicals |journal= Retro Gamer |publisher= Imagine Publishing Ltd | page = 96}}
After the completion of each level, a short cutscene is shown which depicts a recording of a man loudly ranting, with his incomprehensible speech subtitled in ungrammatical English.{{cite web |url= http://www.gamesradar.com/amazing-indie-games-youve-never-played-indie-devs-you-love/ |title= 12 amazing indie games you've never played (by indie devs you love) |last1= Sullivan |first1= Lucas |date= 14 August 2013 |website= GamesRadar |publisher= Future plc |access-date= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 20 October 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211020023725/https://www.gamesradar.com/amazing-indie-games-youve-never-played-indie-devs-you-love/ |url-status= live }} Throughout his strange rants, the man tells how he has lost his father to cancer,{{cite video game |title= Mondo Medicals |developer= Jonatan Söderström |date=2007-09-13 |platform=Microsoft Windows |level= 2|quote= "WHEN I WAS YOUNG I SAW IT HAPPEN! / A CANCER TOOK MY FATHER AND TURNED HIM TO DEATH!! / IF HE WAS HERE TODAY I WOULDN'T LET HAPPEN!"}} which has driven him to devote his life to find a cure to the disease,{{cite video game |title= Mondo Medicals |developer= Jonatan Söderström |date=2007-09-13 |platform=Microsoft Windows |level= 3|quote= "MY WHOLE LIFE I'VE BEEN TRAINING! / UNTIL I UNDERSTAND IT ALL!! / NOW I KNOW EVERYTHING!"}} only to finally realize that the only way to cure cancer is to "shoot it".{{cite video game |title= Mondo Medicals |developer= Jonatan Söderström |date=2007-09-13 |platform=Microsoft Windows |level= 6|quote= "TO KILL A CANCER YOU HAVE TO SHOOT IT! / {{sic|I|T'S}} METHOD CAN'T FAIL!!"}} In the game's final level, the protagonist finds himself in a room with the man previously seen in the cutscenes, who exclaims "I will cure you, cancer!" before shooting the protagonist.{{cite video game |title= Mondo Medicals |developer= Jonatan Söderström |date=2007-09-13 |platform=Microsoft Windows |level= 8|quote= "DON'T SAY YOU DON'T KNOW THIS WAS COMING... / I WILL CURE YOU, CANCER!"}}
Development
Mondo Medicals was created by the Swedish indie game developer Jonatan "cactus" Söderström, known for creating highly unusual games, who had already gained notoriety with his 2008 game Clean Asia!.{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}} It was developed within 72 hours{{cite web |url= http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/10/08/rapid-development/ |title= Rapid Development |last1= Rossignol |first1= Jim |date= 8 October 2007 |website= Rock, Paper, Shotgun |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 3 August 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190803033414/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/10/08/rapid-development/ |url-status= live }} as an entry for a contest on the indie games forum TIGSource.{{cite web |url= http://www.indiegames.com/2007/09/mondo_medicals.html |title= Mondo Medicals |last1= W. |first1= Tim |date= 14 September 2007 |website= IndieGames.com |publisher= UBM TechWeb |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 6 January 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140106031535/http://www.indiegames.com/2007/09/mondo_medicals.html |url-status= dead }} The contest, bearing the theme "B-Games", challenged participants to create "bad games with great personalities". While most other contestants created deliberately ridiculous games, Söderström decided he wanted to create a game that, while bizarre, could be taken seriously. The basic concept was to keep the player constantly deceived, with the entire game being deliberately enigmatic and cryptic in order to leave a lasting impression on the player beyond just entertaining them.{{cite web |url= http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/02/11/unexplored-territory-the-cactus-interview/ |title= "Unexplored Territory": The Cactus Interview |last1= Rossignol |first1= Jim |date= 11 February 2009 |website= Rock, Paper, Shotgun |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 30 October 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201030204552/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/02/11/unexplored-territory-the-cactus-interview/ |url-status= live }}
The movies of the director David Lynch, known for his surreal films such as Eraserhead, were a major inspiration for the game.{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2008/apr/21/interviewcactusgames |title= Interview: Cactus Games |last1= Stuart |first1= Keith |date= 21 April 2008 |website= The Guardian Games blog |publisher= Guardian News and Media |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 18 October 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211018183206/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2008/apr/21/interviewcactusgames |url-status= live }} The dialogue was partially influenced by the games Portal and Killer7, as well as The Man from Another Place character from the TV series Twin Peaks. While initially the cutscenes were meant to provide verbally abusive commentary on the player's progress through the game, Söderström eventually decided to instead make them follow a semi-coherent narrative.{{cite web | url=http://cactusquid.proboards.com/post/485 | title= Mondo Medicals Movie |type = Forum post|website= CACTUSQUID.com |last1= Söderström |first1= Jonatan | date= 4 February 2008 |accessdate=4 January 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140116124838/http://cactusquid.proboards.com/post/485 | archive-date = 16 January 2014}}
Reception
Mondo Medicals was largely praised by video game journalists. Critics have commented on the game's confusing atmosphere and deliberately rough art style,{{cite web |url= http://www.gamesradar.com/the-10-best-artsy-pc-games/ |title= The 10 best artsy PC games |last1= Rossignol |first1= Jim |date= 23 June 2012 |website= GamesRadar |publisher= Future plc |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 6 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106043319/http://www.gamesradar.com/the-10-best-artsy-pc-games/?page=2|url-status= live }} and recommended the game for fans of horror and puzzle games.{{cite web |url= http://gry.wp.pl/artykul/felieton,eksperymenty-w-formie-gier,6442,1.html |title= Eksperymenty w formie gier |last1= Smoleńska |first1= Iga Ewa |date= 24 January 2012 |website= Imperium Gier |publisher= Wirtualna Polska |language= Polish |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 4 February 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120204111854/http://gry.wp.pl/artykul/felieton,eksperymenty-w-formie-gier,6442,1.html |url-status= live }} Retro Gamer's Stuart Hunt gave the game an 85% rating in his review, praising the eerie atmosphere, but criticizing the repetitive and monotonous level design.
Mike Rose included the game in his book 250 Indie Games You Must Play. GameRadar's Lucas Sullivan compared Mondo Medicals to the later game Antichamber and described it as "the most fun you've ever had during an anxiety attack", while Jim Rossignol listed it among various "artsy games", calling it "an Eraserhead of gaming".
Legacy
A sequel to the game, Mondo Agency, was released on December 23, 2007. Another sequel was in development as of 2009, titled Mondo Wires; Söderström also planned a compilation of all three games into an unified release, titled Mondo Nation. Mondo Medicals was later released as part of the game compilation Cactus Arcade.{{cite web |url= http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/28/live-free-play-hard-the-weeks-finest-free-indie-games/ |title= Live Free, Play Hard: The Week's Finest Free Indie Games |author1= Porpentine |date= 28 October 2012 |website= Rock, Paper, Shotgun |accessdate= 4 January 2014 |archive-date= 28 November 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201128224155/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/28/live-free-play-hard-the-weeks-finest-free-indie-games/ |url-status= live }} December 24, 2010 saw the release of a Macintosh port created by Leon Arnott.