Misfortune

Misfortune is an obscure game for the original Game Boy. Since no known hard copies or roms exist, all information about the game is derived from personal accounts and a scant assemblage of screenshots. The game does not contain any credits and whoever created it is still unknown to this day. The few people who have experienced it consider it to be one of the scariest video games ever made.

Given its age and cult following among rare horror game enthusiasts, it's entirely possible that authors of widely known Creepypastas such as Sonic.exe and Lavender Town Syndrome drew inspiration from Misfortune.

Story/Concept

The player controls what appears to be a young boy in a strange Gothic building. After brief exploring, the player is confronted by a malevolent being. Despite the character never identifying itself, some people, siting notable similarities, claim that it may be a representation of Baphomet, Beelzebub or even the Devil.

Upon meeting the mysterious creature, a dialog box will appear with the text: "I exist within the very fabric of reality. Do you want to challenge me?" This is followed by a yes or no choice. Should the player choose yes, the being replies "Then, let's begin."

Gameplay

The cabin puzzle.

The player is then transported to a series of maze-like rooms, each filled with pit drops, locked doors, keys and traps. The objective for the player is to progress through each room by either reaching the stairs to the next level, or solving another kind of puzzle. This can include answering riddles or choosing correct doors or pathways. The most well-known example is in a level where four small cabins are shown on screen: a dialog box will appear that reads "Choose wrong and misfortune will befall your loved ones. Are you ready to play?" Should the player ever make a mistake throughout the game, the screen will cut to black before showing a more detailed image of the demon along with a dialog box reading "I am God here." in what appears to be blood-styled writing.

Alleged Side Effects

Game Over screen, considered to be the cause of "misfortune" in the players.

Rumours pertaining to the games alleged harmful effects began to surface on the internet around the late 1990s. Players claimed to have begun experiencing ongoing depression and dread shortly after losing and seeing the "Game Over" screen. Once prominent members of online forums who told such claims are thought to have died or disappeared when they suddenly became inactive without warning. Heated discussions soon dominated these forums for some time, but the mystery never seemed to be getting any closer to being solved. Some wrote the whole thing off as a tasteless practical joke. Others believed that viewing the image of the evil character after losing the game can really cause the player to experience misfortune as the games antagonist promised. Soon people began to speculate that the eerie soundtrack of the game was the cause.

Soundtrack

The music in the game consisted of deep, buzzy tones, off-key melodies. The game had a remarkably unsettling soundtrack despite composition being limited to the 8 bit Game Boy sound bank. The "Game Over" screen had especially erratic, almost nauseating music with a very high frequency that accompanied it. Rumor has it that this very track could somehow influence moods and thought patterns. Of all the tracks in the game, only the theme that plays when first meeting the demonic entity can be found on the internet today.

Availability

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