Agatha Knife

Lore & Background

Agatha Knife was developed by Spanish independent developer Mango Protocol, based in Barcelona, Spain. The game is set in the 'Psychotic Adventures' narrative universe, which also includes the team's 2015 title MechaNika. The developers initially created the game using Java, then ported it to Unity for a console release in 2018. The protagonist, Agatha, is a seven-year-old insomniac who lives with her mother in a butcher's shop. She develops a conflicted relationship with the animals she loves to play with and her desire to help her mother's business. After her mother prays for a solution, Agatha meets a man who convinces her to start her own religion. She develops Carnivorism, a religion intended to convince the animals that they can reach the afterlife by sacrificing themselves.

Reader's Guide

Agatha Knife received 'mixed or average' reviews on Metacritic. Critics praised the game's visual presentation and tone, with Adventure Gamers describing the art style as 'charming' and noting that gory scenes were depicted in ways 'cutesy enough to avoid being outright grotesque'. Nintendo Life praised the 'lovely' and 'delightful style' of the line-drawn comic presentation, while Nintendo World Report highlighted the 'unique' art style and 'intense attention to detail'. Push Square noted the 'distinctive art style' complemented the game's 'charming and disturbing' subject matter. However, critics were mixed on the treatment of themes including religion, sexuality, gender, veganism, capitalism, and addiction. Adventure Gamers praised the game for tackling unusual subjects, while Nintendo Life noted its 'confused' perspective and lack of biting criticism. Destructoid found the protagonist 'poignant' but observed the writing could be 'heavy-handed' and 'jarring'. Gameplay and puzzles also received mixed responses: Nintendo World Report noted little gameplay variety, Adventure Gamers cited 'irksome issues' and 'basic' puzzles with obscure solutions, and Destructoid described aspects as 'tedious' with 'really not much to do'.

Did You Know?

• The protagonist creates a religion called Carnivorism to convince animals to sacrifice themselves.
• The game was initially developed in Java and later ported to Unity for a console release in 2018.

The Concept and Global Reach

Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie is a French television comedy-crime drama that takes a playful, loose approach to the detective fiction of Agatha Christie. Rather than rigidly following any single novel, the programme weaves together elements from multiple Christie works into self-contained murder mysteries. The series debuted on France 2 on 9 January 2009, and across its first two seasons it delivered thirty-eight episodes that collectively draw on thirty-six of Christie's published works. In English-speaking markets, the two seasons carry distinct titles: "The Little Murders of Agatha Christie" for the first and "Agatha Christie's Criminal Games" for the second. The show found an international audience through streaming platforms, appearing with English subtitles on Acorn TV and MHz Choice in the United States, and on SBS in Australia. This blend of French comedic sensibility with the whodunit structure of Christie's canon gave the series a distinctive identity in the landscape of period crime television.

Series One: The 1930s Duo

Set against the backdrop of 1930s northern France, the first season introduces a mismatched investigative pair. Commissaire Jean Larosière, portrayed by Antoine Duléry, is a bombastic, womanising senior officer whose bravado masks genuine deductive ability. Beside him stands Inspecteur Émile Lampion, played by Marius Colucci, a hapless junior whose bumbling nature provides comic counterpoint to Larosière's swagger. Together they navigate eleven episodes of intricate murder plots, each one loosely adapted from a Christie novel. Their supporting cast includes police officer Ménard (Serge Dubois), who appears in nine episodes, and medical examiner Dr Verdure (Olivier Carré), present in five. The dynamic between the two leads—loud, self-assured Larosière and perpetually flustered Lampion—anchors the season's tone, balancing the cerebral puzzle-solving of classic detective fiction with the warmth and humour of a French buddy-comedy framework.

Series Two: Laurence and His Circle

The second season shifts the setting to Lille in the mid-1950s through the 1960s and introduces a sharply different lead. Commissaire Swan Laurence, played by Samuel Labarthe, is described as suave, razor-sharp, arrogant, and intolerant—a detective who operates with cold precision. He is assisted by journalist Alice Avril (Blandine Bellavoir), a feminist reporter for La Voix du Nord whose contributions go largely unappreciated, and by police secretary Marlène Leroy (Élodie Frenck), a Marilyn Monroe-esque figure whose office is home to a beloved goldfish named Bubulle. In a recurring touch of quiet tenderness, Laurence secretly replaces each fish as it dies, preserving Marlène's attachment; by episode twenty-six he refers to "Bubulle 4." Laurence drives a red Bordeaux Facel Vega Facellia FA coupe. Across all twenty-seven episodes, supporting figures include Commissaire Divisionnaire Tricard, medical examiner Dr Glissant, and newspaper editor Robert Jourdeuil, rounding out a richly populated ensemble.

Series Three and the Franchise's Evolution

Announced in 2019 and released beginning in 2021, the third series transplants the action to 1970s Lille with an entirely new cast. Commissaire Annie Gréco (Émilie Gavois-Kahn) is supported by Inspector Maxime "Max" Beretta (Arthur Dupont) and psychologist Rose Bellecour (Chloé Chaudoye), marking a notable shift toward a more modern investigative team that includes a psychological specialist. A significant creative change accompanies this new era: while the first and third episodes adapt Christie's Endless Night and The Hollow, the remaining stories are original narratives crafted "in the spirit of Christie's works." The producer explained that the remaining unadapted novels were either too difficult to translate to screen or complicated by rights issues. The franchise also has an earlier offshoot: a four-part 2006 miniseries called Petits Meurtres en Famille, adapted from Hercule Poirot's Christmas, featuring the same Larosière and Lampion actors but existing independently of the main series.