Little Shop of Horrors

Going through my stuff, I rediscovered this game that I made as a group project in graduate school. The game was based off of the musical Little Shop of Horrors and we used a quirky 2D, top-down, Legend of Zelda point of view for all of the levels.

In the game, the player interacts as Seymore, the nerdy flower boy who discovers a blood guzzling alien flower that he uses to impress his one true love, Audrey. The player must follow the "Horrors" storyline while keeping both Seymore and his plant's blood/health meters high enough to stay alive. This results in some morally questionable behavior on Seymore's part as the plant requires progressively larger amounts of blood to survive.

The game featured several levels which were easily navigable by walking the Skid Row street level as shown above. These levels are generally places where Seymore can gather sources of blood for his plant. The levels pictured below are (from Right to Left) the Mad Dentist's office, the Animal Testing Lab, and the Old Cat Lady's House.


Seymore is able to collect an inventory of flowers, tools and food sources for his plant from the different levels of the game. The picture to the left of Seymore at a blood bank shows the player collecting a blood bag from the blood bank level. The blood bag is automatically placed in the player's inventory. This inventory is conveniently labeled "Stuff". The blood can then be taken by Seymore back to his flower shop where he can feed his plant. Once back at the shop, Seymore can go back to his bedroom where the player can save his progress and inventory.

There is also humorous dialog between Seymore and the game's characters which guides the player through the game. These characters may inadvertently suggest that Seymore could steal a cat, kidnap a lab monkey or even kill Audrey's crazy boyfriend dentist to feed his plant. But if these same characters catch Seymore in the act, they will send him straight back to his bedroom in the flower shop with a reduction in health.

The game was an absolute blast to help make and it is hilarious to play. The game play is very quick and Seymore can move really fast around game levels, making sure things never get dull. In addition to the bizarre plot and weird characters, the player gets to hear the insanely catchy tunes from the musical throughout each level of the game.