The hero's name is Manuel "Manny" Calavera. We don't know much about his life; but we do know what happened to him after he died. In case you didn't know, the Land of the Dead is where all people are reincarnated after death, looking like puppet-like skeletons. The Land of the Dead is very similar to the world of the living: people work, have careers, fall in love, and can even die again, turning into flowers. And they all await their final destiny - a trip to the underworld. Depending on their deeds in life, they might get a good journey or be destined to walk there without any means. Manny works in a travel agency that takes care of such trips. But recently, something has been going wrong. Manny is unable to get good clients, and he suspects there is a scheme to falsify the dossiers of dead people and to offer the best trips to scoundrels for bribes. Manny's grand adventure begins as he steps into the world of corruption and intrigues.

"Grim Fandango" describes several years of Manny Calavera's life. Influenced by Mexican mythology and Art Deco, the game combines 3D characters with pre-rendered backgrounds. It has plenty of branching dialogues and complex inventory-based puzzles. The traditional mouse interaction was abandoned in favor of keyboard control for movements and actions.

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Alternate Titles

"神通鬼大" -- Chinese title (traditional)
"Deeds of the Dead" -- Working title

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Part of the Following Groups

Merchant	Title
	Grim Fandango
	Grim Fandango
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User Reviews

Where there is creativity, there will always be great games	Unicorn B. Lynx (53164)
If video games really are art, this is the greatest game ever made.	kyuzo (18)
"I Am More Than Dead"	MasterMegid (801)
A great game with some minor flaws	Marty Bonus (41)	unrated
A gem so flawless, you need an electron microscope to see its flaws.	Zack Green (1029)
Extraordinary game!	Fakey McFake (4)
Ultra stylish epic, and the beauty is more than skin-deep.	Shazbut (130)
Excellent modern adventure	Ashley Pomeroy (227)
Wow, I didn't think that the dead could talk	Black Wolf (37274)	unrated
A nice long adventure game...too bad it's 3D	Daniel Albu (255)	unrated

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The Press Says

Adventure Classic Gaming	Sep 01, 2008		100
Tap-Repeatedly/Four Fat Chicks	1998		100
Game Over Online	Nov 07, 1998	94 out of 100	94
PC Gamer	Oct 30, 1998	9.3 out of 10	93
Adventure-Treff	May 12, 2000	92 out of 100	92
Adventurearchiv	Jan 17, 2004	92 out of 100	92
Power Unlimited	Jan, 1999	9.1 out of 10	91
Game Revolution	Dec 01, 1998	A-	91
PC Player (Germany)	Dec, 1998	89 out of 100	89
Jeuxvideo.com	Dec 03, 1998	17 out of 20	85

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Trivia

You soon end up working for an underground organisation called the L.S.A., or the Lost Souls Alliance. As stated in the manual Grim Fandango is steeped in references to Aztec and Mayan culture and art (as well as Mexican folklore and film noir of the 1930's, 40's and 50's). LSA (for short) is the psychoactive ingredient of 'Ololiuqui' - the Aztec name for the seeds of certain plants that have been used and held sacred by the Aztecs for many years. This may or may not be intentional but trivia nonetheless!

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This entry to the MobyGames database was contributed by Ryan Lucas (12) on Aug 10, 1999.