Bad Mojo

Lore & Background

The game begins in an underground hub with pipes to different rooms, sealed except one. The player controls Roger as a cockroach using directional arrow keys, moving small objects and weighing down items. Hazards include rats, garbage disposals, and a cat named Franz. The player has four lives; losing all sends them back to the hub to restart the last room. A flaming eye symbol near living creatures provides hints through visions and verse voiced by Angelina. Background objects reveal character history.

In 1995, Roger Samms rents an apartment above a bar owned by Eddie Battito. Roger embezzled $1 million from a science corporation and plans to flee to Mexico. After an argument with Eddie, Roger finds a cockroach-patterned locket that belonged to his deceased mother Angelina, which transforms him into a cockroach and sends him to a sewer system. The game explores the pasts of Roger and Eddie, revealing Roger's abandonment and bullying, and Eddie's loss of his wife Angelina during childbirth. Eddie does not know Angelina was Roger's mother, nor does Roger know Angelina was Eddie's wife.

There are four possible endings: if Eddie escapes and Roger does not, Eddie becomes a homeless drunk; if Roger escapes and Eddie does not, Roger is caught, charged with murder, and sent to an asylum; if neither escapes, Angelina's ghost narrates their deaths; if both escape, Eddie recognizes the locket and they reconcile as father and son, traveling together to Mexico.

Reader's Guide

Bad Mojo was commercially successful, with sales reaching 175,000 units by February 1997 and over 200,000 units by the end of its shelf life. It received accolades from critics: Inside Mac Games nominated it for best adventure game of 1996, and Macworld gave it the 1996 'Best Role-Playing Game' award. Adventure Gamers later named it the 30th-best adventure game ever released. Reviews praised its unique and eerie story and presentation, though some noted limited gameplay and lack of longevity. The game was re-released in December 2004 as Bad Mojo Redux, with remastered videos and a bonus DVD. It was later distributed digitally by Nightdive Studios on Steam and GOG.com in 2014. A vinyl soundtrack was released by Xorcist in 2019.

Did You Know?

• Roger Samms' name is an imperfect anagram of Gregor Samsa from Kafka's The Metamorphosis.
• The game's development was troubled, with director Vinny Carrella noting 'no happiness, just pain'.
• Live German cockroaches were provided by Carolina Biological Supply Company and controlled using a freezer to slow them down.
• A professional cat wrangler and trainer was hired for the cat scenes, and insurance was required for the cat.