![]() Kirkland defends the appropriation and application of conceptual frameworks derived from other Gothic media because “videogames can be situated within traditions of Gothic culture” (8). As game scholar Ewan Kirkland states, for some scholars in the field, applying concepts drawn from Gothic studies to the analysis of video games “resemble a reductive effort to explore digital games using inappropriate concept designs to analyse very different media” ( Videogames and the Gothic 8). The analysis also comprises studies focusing on Gothic literature and other forms of culture, a critical approach that has been met with criticism. This article, to explore the intersections between Lost in Random and the Gothic tradition, analyses these themes through the lens of game studies, considering the work of game scholars who approach the presence of Gothic in the in-game narrative, mechanics, and representational style of video games. ![]() This Burtonesque fairy-tale game relies on transmedial labels, termed ‘milieu,’ drawing from a Gothic visual aesthetic and building a narrative around traditional Gothic conventions, including transgression, subversion, liminality, a haunting past, and duality. Together, they fight to end the Queen’s reign and reinstate true randomness to Random. In this journey, Even meets Dicey, a sentient die that becomes her trusted companion. Fearing for her sister’s well-being, Even follows the ghost through Random to rescue her. The ghostly figure is holding the plush doll she gave to Odd as a gift before she was taken to Sixtopia. A year after losing Odd, Even wakes up to find a ghost hovering over her bed. The protagonist, Even, watches her sister, Odd, as she rolls a six on her twelfth birthday and is taken by the wicked Queen of Random to the idyllic Sixtopia, destined to live happily ever after. Lost in Random (Zoink AB, 2021) is a Gothic fairy-tale-inspired action-adventure video game in which the roll of a die determines one’s fate. Or so it was told… (“A Twisted Fairytale”) 1. … Roll a six, and they would live a life of luxury in the Queen’s dark palace. ![]() ![]() Roll a one and the child would be sent to Onecroft, destined to live a life of struggle. By her decree, every child of Random would be given the honor of rolling the dice on their twelfth birthday to determine which realm of the kingdom they belonged to, thereby deciding their fate for all eternity. Keywords: Gothic, video game studies, transgression, duality, liminality, subversion, Lost in Random Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Random, there lived a mad Queen who controlled a mysterious black dice. Focusing on the themes of transgression, subversion, liminality, past, and duality, it observes, on the one hand, how these themes are present in a cultural work that falls into the strand of ‘happy Gothic,’ as introduced by Spooner, and, on the other, how the Gothic works in Lost in Random. This article examines the intersections between Lost in Random and the Gothic tradition. The game features decaying, haunted, liminal settings and bodies that offer possibilities to transgress and subvert boundaries and unveil a hidden past that refuses to fade away. In Lost in Random (Zoink AB, 2021), the Gothic is prominent in its narrative, atmosphere, and aesthetics. Indeed, looking back at the history of video games, game designers have been frequently drawing on the Gothic by representing labyrinthine spaces, ghostly enemies, and uncanny objects (Kirkland, “Gothic” 109). Gothic themes, motifs, tropes, characters, and settings are often appropriated, transformed, and assimilated to in-game narratives and mechanics. The Gothic is a hybrid mode with the ability to merge with other media forms, and, predictably, it has been adapted into video games.
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