[makmanalp]

Here's the thing - I remember playing it as a kid and so many things, arguably most of it, went way over my head: the whole travel agent thing and getting ahead in the office, dia de los muertos, the references to noir, the weird but gorgeous mexican art deco combo, I knew nothing about any of it. But I still loved every second of it. It made the world feel very rich and real even if I didn't fully get it, in a way that other games around the time just were not.

Also this is not too dissimilar to how adult life that surrounds every child is to a child. You're sort of used to living in a world that has workings beyond your comprehension and just going along with it. I didn't get what exactly was going on but I did understand /something/ was.

I'm listening to a review of The Great Mouse Detective (1986) which has a similar ethos, as did other content targeting young people from that era. Also I recall picking up books as a kid that were certainly not meant for children and adults back then didn't even blink, and I think it stoked my curiosity and interests and pushed the boundaries of my understanding, as well as prepared me for growing up. I don't think I ended up being a worse person or being traumatized in any way. Part of me wonders if kids' content being much more sanitized these days is a mistake.

[rubslopes]

I also played it as a kid and vividly remember that plot about a secret political revolution feeling so cool and new to me. I had never encountered anything like it before.I remember 'Viva la revolución!' becoming a catchphrase for me and a friend at that time.

The sense of sneaking into an adult world, even a fantasy one, might be what made the game feel so special to me.

[makmanalp]

> The sense of sneaking into an adult world, even a fantasy one, might be what made the game feel so special to me

Brilliant observation that never occurred to me. Around that age being allowed to sit with and listen in on adults having normal adult conversations - being one of them - felt special.

[Gravityloss]

I think that was part of the fascination of PC:s as a kid. Police Quest or Civilization and so on. It was this kind of adult world that you knew little of and were exploring on your own, or with your friends. The games were not holding your hand. It often was game over. But you could try again. Also, your parents were never involved in any way (except financing the thing). The audience of PC games was different than console games. They expected more from the player. Sometimes it was frustrating, but often times I think one learned something. Also one had to use the dictionary sometimes. There were also less other things competing for their attention so kids had more persistence...

[throaway915]

This is bang on. Having a pc back in the day was like having a problem solving simulator for me.

[sersi]

> I'm listening to a review of The Great Mouse Detective (1986) which has a similar ethos, as did other content targeting young people from that era.

You bring up a great point, I do feel sometimes that children media in the 80s didn't completely try to dumb down complexities of adult life even when targeting children. While there are exceptions, it does feel less true nowadays when looking at modern media. The problem I feel is that at the same time as we sanitize children' content more than we used too, children have more access to unfiltered content through often poorly secured devices.

As for Grim Fandango, I played it around 15 and while, yes there were elements that flew above my head. I still remember it as an amazing experience and my first introduction to the film noir genre (shortly after that was reinforced by playing Under a Killing Moon given to me by a friend of mine)

[throaway915]

Yes, we do a grave disservice to all children when we assume they can't handle reality.

[kylebenzle]

You are correct! The user above you has a strange opinion about what media kids should consume.

[porbelm]

Same experience here. I loved The Great Mouse Detective, at age 8. Not much later I read The Dark Knight in a translated trade paperback, and it really tickled my little mind. There was a trend of having comic adaptations of movies back then, so I also read and loved the License to Kill comic and was disappointed when Terminator 2 omitted some scenes in the movie -- until the Director's Cut came out.

I was certainly not traumatized (apart from the week of nightmares after seeing Alien one night on TV at age 12). Because of this, I had no arguments when I learned my 11 and 13 year old kids' mom and their stepdad had secured tickets for us to go see Deadpool & Wolverine when I was visiting last time.

Kids understand more than one may think, depending on how much "real life" they assimilate through culture (and parental guidance), I believe.