Imagine opening a box of cereal and finding a mysterious tape promising you the chance to win $5 million. Sounds suspicious already, doesn’t it? Most sensible people would probably chuck the tape in the bin, finish their cereal and carry on with their morning. Apparently, we aren’t sensible people.
Instead, we willingly enter Frankie’s Parkour Palace, where trampolines, water slides, obstacle courses and colourful attractions hide something far nastier underneath. This isn’t Ninja Warrior, and there’s certainly no padded mat waiting to catch you when things go wrong. Here, failure usually means becoming part of the scenery.
And then there’s Frankie.
A massive magician rabbit who seems to have completely misunderstood what “family entertainment” means.
Finding Frankie, developed by SUPERLOU, takes the mascot-horror formula and throws it headfirst into a fast-paced first-person parkour game. There are creepy characters, unsettling environments and plenty of running for your life, but instead of giving you weapons or complicated gadgets, the game asks a much simpler question:
How fast can you run when a homicidal rabbit is right behind you?
WELCOME TO Frankie's parkour palace
The story begins when our unnamed protagonist discovers an invitation hidden inside a box of Frankie’s Fruit Flakes. The prize is enough to make anyone raise an eyebrow: survive a dangerous competition against several other contestants and walk away with $5 million.
Of course, nothing about this situation screams “legitimate television production”.
The competition takes place inside Frankie’s Parkour Palace, a huge three-storey entertainment complex filled with trampolines, tunnels, lifts, water attractions and obstacle courses. Behind all the bright colours and child-friendly decorations, however, sits something considerably darker.
The competition is broadcast privately on the dark web, where thousands of viewers watch contestants fight for survival, vote, and seemingly enjoy every horrifying second.
Lovely bunch.
That contrast is one of the strongest elements of Finding Frankie. At first glance, the building looks like somewhere you might have begged your parents to take you as a kid. Everything is colourful, energetic and designed around having fun. Then you turn a corner and suddenly realise that maybe Frankie’s Parkour Palace would struggle slightly during a health-and-safety inspection.
As you progress, the locations continue changing. You might be bouncing through colourful obstacle courses one minute before finding yourself navigating water-based sections or battling across an icy mountain filled with hazards the next. There’s enough visual variety to stop the environment from becoming repetitive, and each major area feels like it has its own identity.
There’s also plenty of gore.
SUPERLOU doesn’t shy away from showing what happens when contestants fail, and some moments are surprisingly brutal compared with the otherwise colourful presentation. Seeing cheerful playground-style environments covered in the aftermath of something horrifying gives the game a disturbing personality of its own.
It creates one question that constantly sits in the back of your mind:
‘”What exactly happened here?”
Unfortunately, the first game only scratches the surface of that mystery.
Meet the mascots
Our protagonist doesn’t have much of a personality or backstory. You’re essentially another contestant desperate enough to accept the challenge, and that blank-slate approach allows the player to put themselves directly into the situation.
The mascots, however, have absolutely no problem making an impression.
The star of the show is obviously Frankie, a magician rabbit who looks like he has spent considerably more time learning murder than magic.
I’ve seen some creepy rabbits over the years, but Frankie could probably make the residents of Watership Down pack their bags and move somewhere safer.
He’s aggressive, intimidating and surprisingly effective at making you panic whenever he appears. Hearing him nearby immediately changes the atmosphere because you know there’s a good chance you’re about to start running.
Then we have Henry Hotline, an absolutely bizarre living telephone who somehow manages to make the concept of answering the phone frightening.
And finally, there’s Deputy Duck.
I’m not explaining Deputy Duck.
Some things are better experienced without warning.
Each mascot brings something different to the game and helps prevent Finding Frankie from becoming nothing more than a long obstacle course. Their appearances transform otherwise straightforward parkour sections into frantic survival sequences where suddenly every jump matters.
Run, Jump, Slide… and Don’t Look Back
The biggest thing separating Finding Frankie from many other mascot-horror games is its movement.
There’s no traditional combat system here. You aren’t loading a shotgun, swinging a weapon or fighting your way through enemies. Your greatest weapons are your hands, your legs and hopefully a functioning sense of direction.
Movement is built around parkour, with mechanics including wall jumps, wall running, rail grinding, pole swinging, trampolines and sliding.
Initially, it takes a little practice.
Some mechanics require precise timing, especially when chaining jumps together or swinging between areas. Mess up at the wrong moment and you’ll either fall or find yourself losing valuable distance during a chase.
And when Frankie is behind you, losing distance isn’t ideal.
Once everything clicks, though, movement becomes one of the game’s biggest strengths. There’s something incredibly satisfying about bouncing from a trampoline, hitting a wall jump, sliding beneath an obstacle and continuing forward without breaking momentum.
It feels fast without becoming completely uncontrollable.
Some sections also require you to activate fuse boxes before a timer expires, forcing you to combine navigation and movement rather than simply travelling from one location to another. The puzzles themselves aren’t particularly complicated, but adding a clock makes even straightforward objectives stressful.
You know what you need to do.
The problem is doing it while your brain is screaming, “MOVE!”
catch me if you can
The chase sequences are where Finding Frankie really comes alive.
Mascot horror has relied on chase scenes for years, but the parkour system makes them feel considerably more interactive here. Instead of simply holding forward and following a predetermined path, you’re constantly jumping, sliding and using the environment to maintain your speed.
The AI can be genuinely aggressive as well.
Most encounters provide a decent challenge, although I did find the difficulty somewhat inconsistent. Some sections went smoothly, whereas others suddenly felt considerably tougher.
The final stretch in particular gave me trouble.
Without ruining anything, Frankie becomes incredibly persistent, and there were moments where I found myself questioning whether this rabbit had secretly been training for the Olympics.
Thankfully, dying doesn’t punish you too harshly. You’ll quickly return to the action, and repeated attempts teach you enemy behaviour, routes and the timing required to survive.
It becomes a process of learning from each mistake.
Or repeatedly making the same mistake five times before finally realising what you’re doing wrong.
We’ve all been there.
secrets around every corner
There isn’t a traditional progression system in Finding Frankie. You won’t earn experience points or unlock an enormous skill tree where Frankie eventually becomes terrified because you’ve somehow gained +15 rabbit resistance.
Instead, exploration is rewarded through hidden Frankie plush collectables scattered around the game.
Some are tucked away surprisingly well, giving completionists a reason to slow down and search areas rather than constantly racing towards the next objective.
There’s also another gameplay mechanic introduced later on that changes things slightly, but this is something I’d rather leave for players to discover themselves.
Where the game could have gone further is with its lore.
I would have loved to discover recordings, documents, employee notes or other pieces of information explaining more about Frankie’s Parkour Palace and the people behind the competition. The concept leaves plenty of unanswered questions, and the world feels like it’s begging to have its history explored.
Hopefully that’s something a future game can expand upon.
colourful, creepy and covered in blood
Visually, Finding Frankie hits a great balance between cartoon mascot horror and more detailed environments.
The characters are exaggerated and colourful, while many of the locations have noticeably more realistic lighting and textures. It gives the game a distinctive look without leaning too heavily towards either photorealism or an entirely cartoon presentation.
More importantly, the art direction understands the game’s biggest strength: contrast.
Frankie’s Parkour Palace is supposed to look welcoming.
Children should want to be there.
Everything is bright, colourful and full of attractions.
Then somebody gets torn apart.
Suddenly those smiling decorations and playful environments feel considerably less friendly.
The game doesn’t rely heavily on traditional cutscenes either. Instead, cinematic moments frequently blend directly into gameplay. A mascot might appear, trigger a short sequence and then hand control straight back to you, keeping the momentum moving rather than constantly dragging you away from the action.
did you hear that?
Sound design deserves plenty of praise.
During quieter moments, Frankie’s Parkour Palace can almost feel welcoming. Then alarms blare, something crashes nearby, and those enormous footsteps grow louder.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changes completely.
Frankie’s pursuit sequences benefit massively from the audio. Hearing him getting closer while objects crash around you creates genuine panic because you’re constantly trying to judge how far behind he is without actually stopping to check.
Because stopping to check would be a terrible idea.
Voice acting is used sparingly, but when characters do speak, they have plenty of personality. Henry Hotline is probably one of the strongest examples, with his performance helping turn what is essentially an evil telephone into something strangely memorable.
There’s also an announcer providing commentary throughout parts of the competition, reinforcing the feeling that you’re unwillingly starring in a horrifying game show for an audience sitting comfortably behind their screens.
Meanwhile, the protagonist remains silent, which works well because it lets the player effectively become the contestant.
The music deserves attention too. Tracks shift between playful, energetic themes and much more intense compositions depending on what’s happening. That cheerful entertainment-centre soundtrack works particularly well because you know what kind of place you’re actually standing inside.
Everything says fun.
Everything happening around you says otherwise.
a different kind of mascot horror
Mascot horror has become an increasingly crowded genre.
When something becomes popular, plenty of games inevitably arrive trying to capture the same audience. We’ve seen abandoned children’s attractions, creepy toys, suspicious corporations and mascots that really should have remained locked inside the costume cupboard.
That makes originality increasingly important.
Finding Frankie succeeds because it doesn’t simply copy what came before it.
You can certainly see influences from games such as Poppy Playtime, while its colourful obstacle courses occasionally gave me a strange horror-themed Fall Guys feeling, but the movement system gives the game its own identity.
Parkour isn’t just something added on top.
It’s the entire foundation of the experience.
Running from a monster becomes considerably more exciting when escaping requires you to actually master movement mechanics rather than simply sprinting down a corridor.
That single decision changes the formula enough to make Finding Frankie feel refreshing.
final thoughts
Finding Frankie surprised me.
I went into it expecting another mascot-horror experience filled with colourful characters, creepy corridors and predictable chase sequences. Instead, SUPERLOU created something that takes familiar ideas and gives them a much-needed shot of adrenaline.
The parkour is easily the highlight. Once the mechanics click, moving around Frankie’s Parkour Palace feels incredibly satisfying, especially during the larger chase sequences where jumping, sliding and swinging all come together.
The mascots are memorable, the environments have plenty of personality, the soundtrack works brilliantly with the game’s twisted theme, and Frankie himself makes for an effective villain.
However, the experience is over surprisingly quickly.
My playthrough lasted roughly an hour and a half, and I was definitely left wanting more.
That isn’t necessarily because the game feels unfinished. Quite the opposite — I wanted more because I was enjoying what was there.
Replay value is also relatively limited. You can return to hunt down missing plushies or chase better scores in the timed mode, but once you’ve experienced the main story, there isn’t a huge amount encouraging another complete playthrough.
I also think the lore needs expanding. Frankie’s Parkour Palace is such a bizarre concept that I wanted to understand more about who created it, how the game show operates and exactly what happened behind the scenes.
There’s plenty of potential sitting underneath the surface.
Despite those complaints, Finding Frankie managed to earn itself a place among the mascot-horror games I genuinely enjoyed. I’m also glad it delivers one contained experience rather than splitting everything into chapters and making players wait to see what happens next.
It’s short.
It’s ridiculous.
It’s surprisingly brutal.
And most importantly, it’s fun.
If you’re a fan of mascot horror but want something faster and more movement-focused than the usual formula, Finding Frankie is absolutely worth putting on your radar. Plus, with Finding Frankie 2 finally announced…
There’s really only one thing left to say.
You’ve found the tape.
There’s $5 million waiting at the finish line.
Frankie is somewhere behind you.
On your marks. Get set. RUN!
Positives
✅ Parkour Perfection – Fast, fluid and satisfying movement that feels brilliant once everything clicks.
✅ Run for Your Life – Chase sequences are intense, frantic and genuinely entertaining.
✅ Mascot Mayhem – Frankie, Henry Hotline and the rest of the cast are memorable and suitably unsettling.
✅ Colourful Carnage – Bright, child-friendly environments contrast brilliantly with the darker horror and gore.
✅ Hear Him Coming – Strong sound design makes every pursuit feel far more tense.
✅ Killer Soundtrack – Music shifts naturally between playful themes and full-blown panic.
✅ Smooth Operator – Performance remained stable throughout my playthrough with no major technical problems.
✅ Fresh Meat – The parkour-focused gameplay gives mascot horror a refreshing change from the usual formula.
Negatives
❌ Over Too Soon – At roughly 90 minutes, the main experience feels surprisingly short.
❌ Not Much Reason to Return – Replay value is mostly limited to collectables and improving timed scores.
❌ Rabbit Rampage – Frankie’s AI and the overall difficulty can occasionally feel inconsistent.
❌ Where’s the Lore? – More recordings, documents and environmental storytelling would have helped flesh out the mystery.
Owner of Indie Critical. I’m passionate about highlighting independent voices in film, games, and culture. I focus on honest, thoughtful reviews and love helping great indie projects get the recognition they deserve. When I’m not writing or editing, I’m probably diving into the latest hidden gem or discovering the next big thing in the indie scene.
Written by
Lewis Langton
