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Grim Fandango

Grim Fandango

|United States|Adventure, Puzzle

8.6 /10

Aww Great!

Hot

388 ratings
Where to get it
Trailers & screenshots
Why play it

A neo-noir adventure to the Land of the Dead. Something's rotten in the land of the dead, and you're being played for a sucker. Meet Manny Calavera, travel agent at the Department of Death. He sells luxury packages to souls on their four-year journey to eternal rest. But there's trouble in paradise. Help Manny untangle himself from a conspiracy that threatens his very salvation.

Story and worldbuilding

The game is divided into four acts, each taking place on November 2 on four consecutive years. Manuel "Manny" Calavera is a travel agent at the Department of Death in the city of El Marrow, forced into his job to work off a debt "to the powers that be". Manny is frustrated with being assigned clients that must take the four-year journey and is threatened to be fired by his boss, Don Copal, if he does not come up with better clients. Manny steals a client, Mercedes "Meche" Colomar, from his co-worker Domino Hurley. The Department computers assign Meche to the four-year journey even though Manny believes she should have a guaranteed spot on the "Number Nine" luxury express train due to her pureness of heart in her life. After setting Meche on her way, Manny investigates further and finds that Domino and Don have been rigging the system to deny many clients Double N tickets, hoarding them for the boss of the criminal underworld, Hector LeMans. LeMans then sells the tickets at an exorbitant price to those that can afford it. Manny recognizes that he cannot stop Hector at present and instead, with the help of his driver and speed demon Glottis, he tries to find Meche on her journey in the nearby Petrified Forest. During the trip Manny encounters Salvador "Sal" Limones, the leader of the small underground organization Lost Souls Alliance (LSA), who is aware of Hector's plans and recruits Manny to help. Manny arrives at the small port city of Rubacava and finds that he has beaten Meche there, and waits for her to show up. A year passes, and the city of Rubacava has grown. Manny now runs his own nightclub off a converted automat near the edge of the Forest. Manny learns from Olivia Ofrenda that Don has been "sprouted" for letting the scandal be known and that Meche was recently seen with Domino leaving the port. Manny gives chase and a year later tracks them to a coral mining plant on the Edge of the World. Domino has been holding Meche there as a trap to lure Manny. All of Domino's clients who had their tickets stolen are also being held there and used as slave labor, both to make a profit with the coral mining and as a way to keep Hector's scandal quiet. Domino tries to convince Manny to take over his position in the plant seeing as he has no alternative and can spend the rest of eternity with Meche but he refuses. After rescuing Meche, Manny defeats Domino by causing him to fall into a rock crusher. Manny, along with Meche, Glottis and all the souls being held at the plant then escape from the Edge of the World. The three travel for another year until they reach the terminus for the Number Nine train before the Ninth Underworld. Unfortunately, the Gate Keeper to the Ninth Underworld won't let the souls progress without their tickets, mistakenly believing they have sold them. Meanwhile, Glottis has fallen deathly ill. Manny learns from demons stationed at the terminus that the only way to revive Glottis is to travel at high speeds to restore Glottis' purpose for being summoned. Manny and the others devise a makeshift fuel source to create a "rocket" train cart, quickly taking Manny and Meche back to Rubacava and saving Glottis' life. The three return to El Marrow, now found to be fully in Hector's control and renamed as Nuevo Marrow. Manny regroups with Sal and his expanded LSA and with the help of Olivia, who volunteered to join the gang earlier in Rubacava, and is able to learn about Hector's current activities. Further investigation reveals that Hector not only has been hoarding the Number Nine tickets, but has created counterfeit versio

Game highlights
Rating momentum

Aww Great!: 8.6/10 across 388 ratings. Word of mouth is strong — if you like the genre, go for it.

Play style

Leans into Adventure, Puzzle, Point-and-click — a quick read on whether that fantasy matches what you usually enjoy.

Reviews

20 media reviews

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IGNRyan McCaffrey · 26 Jan, 2015
9.3/10

Time has done little to diminish Grim Fandango's beauty or relevance. It is an adventure game not to be missed.

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GameSpotKevin VanOrd · 26 Jan, 2015
8/10

Grim Fandango remains an absolute delight--funny, good-hearted, and fun to play.

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EurogamerRichard Cobbett · 26 Jan, 2015
8/10

Definitely be careful of rose-tinted memories. The puzzles and its relatively early peak can't and shouldn't be ignored. Nor though can everything that it does right, from its sheer heart and creative polish, to the genius of its ideas and characters. Even when it stumbles, it stands as a fine reminder of why LucasArts at its prime was seen as the industry at its best, and few other adventures have deservedly gathered so much affection. It was an instant classic back in 1998. It's still very much a journey worth taking today, albeit ideally with a walkthrough.

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PC GamerTom Senior · 27 Jan, 2015
8/10

A confident remaster of a true classic. The puzzles have aged badly, but the sparkling humour and world design still shine.

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Game InformerJeff Cork · 27 Jan, 2015
7/10

The remastered version is a nice reminder of – or introduction to – the heyday of adventure games, warts and all

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Washington PostChristopher Byrd · 3 Feb, 2015

Call me selective, but I wanted the comedy without the tedium which broke the cinematic effect. Perhaps this inability to fawningly linger over "Grim Fandango's" highly static environments is a product of time. Regardless, the bony truth is that our lives sometimes intersect with games at inopportune moments.

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Rock, Paper, ShotgunAlec Meer · 27 Jan, 2015

The Remastered edition might not be quite as modernised as we'd hoped, and it's sorely in need of a little more PC-specific TLC, but it is such a pleasure to have it back, so much happier on a modern monitor and good speakers than the original edition, and with non-crazy controls too.

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DestructoidSteven Hansen · 19 Oct, 2015
9.5/10

The comedic beats Grim Fandango hits in the opening cinematic alone are delightful. Reminds you how rare “funny” is in games. Some adventure game puzzle logic and Glottis’ chunky orange polygons aside, it doesn’t feel dated. It’s well-written, rich, heartfelt, funny, and I’m glad as heck it’s readily available for everyone to play.

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Push SquareGraham Banas · 28 Jan, 2015
9/10

Grim Fandango is undoubtedly one of the greatest adventure games ever made, and, a few niggles aside, this remaster does its legacy justice. The occasionally obtuse puzzles do date the game in some ways, but the plot and setting is as refreshing as ever. If you're yearning for something a little different, then a trip to the Underworld may be what you need – just make sure that you get a good package.

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Nintendo LifeDom Reseigh-Lincoln · 16 Nov, 2018
9/10

The fact you've been able to play Grim Fandango Remastered on your TV and in handheld form elsewhere for years doesn't matter one bit, because this gem of a game is still as enchanting and evocative as it was the first time you popped open that oversized cardboard box back in PC in 1998. Here and now on Nintendo Switch, this port looks and runs noticeably smoother than its fellow portable versions thanks to Double Fine's deft adjustments, so if whether you've already joined Manny on his afterlife odyssey or this is your first time among the dead, Switch is 100 percent better for its inclusion.

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