Luigi, the “other” Mario brother, is always as cheerful as can be, even after all these years living in his brother’s shadow. But could this happy-go-lucky attitude be nothing more than a facade? A mask he presents to the world in order to hide his depression, resentment and smoking habit?
Ennuigi is a flash game that explores the feelings Luigi might be harboring deep inside. It’s actually more of a barely interactive story-telling device, but it’s still incredibly effective.
you play as a chain-smoking Luigi as he wonders through the ruins of the Mushroom Kingdom. You can press the Down key to make Luigi take a long drag from his cigarette, or Up to read his inner dialogue and thoughts. Here’s an example of one of these gloomy musings:
Cheery stuff there, Luigi… There are many other lines, not all of them good, but some can be soul-crashing. Others offer small insights on the brother’s relationships with each other and other characters.
In a Reddit post discussing whether Ennuigi is “satire or shit”, creator Josh Millard had this to say:
“What Ennuigi is supposed to be…is a little funny and a little doomy and pointedly quiet and slow and non-interactive in contrast with rowdy platforming dynamism of the one game it actually IS a direct commentary on. I grew up on [Super Mario Bros.], and loved and love it, and also think it’s a pretty weird implied narrative once you step back and look at it, and enjoyed funneling some thoughts about all that into a recharacterization of Luigi as a guy who’s as legitimately confused and distressed by his strange life as you’d expect a person to be once removed from the bubble of cartoony context of the franchise.”
If you’re looking to see one of the most popular video game franchises in a different light, give Ennuigi a go. You can check out more stuff by Josh Millard through his personal website.
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