With every new original series, Netflix rises even more from being just a streaming service to a very successful motion feature production mogul. Netflix has been behind some of the biggest movies and series in recent years, two of which include Stranger Things and Big Mouth. While these shows couldn’t be further from each other content-wise, they’re just similar enough that Big Mouth could follow a path Stranger Things has already laid out.
The raunchy animated TV show isn’t as mainstream or palatable as Stranger Things, but it doesn’t have to be to get a free-to-play game on the app store. Stranger Things released a wildly popular app in 2017 as a companion to the show, stylized as a traditional 8-Bit arcade game. Despite the wildly different premises of the shows, Big Mouth might be a strong contender for an app store game.
Stranger Things: The Game
Stranger Things: The Game released in 2017 as a free-to-play app store game with generally favorable reviews across all platforms. It was super stylized and reminiscent of arcade-style video games, with players switching between characters to complete certain tasks and save Hawkins from the threats of the Upside Down. At certain times, players could even enter the Upside Down to fight monsters, as well as explore other parts of town that weren’t in the show.
The game was updated a few times with new levels and characters, but hasn't been updated in at least 3 years. Instead, it seems the developer focused on creating Stranger Things 3: The Game, which came out in 2019 as an official companion to the third season of the show. The follow-up game was released on more platforms and was no longer free-to-play.
How Big Mouth Could Benefit From A Video Game
Obviously, Stranger Things isn’t the first television show to create a companionate video game, but it was a game based on a Netflix breakout hit. Big Mouth doesn’t have that same notoriety, probably because its subject material is rather out there, but not all video games are made for children. In fact, The Simpsons Game was rated “T” when it released in 2007.
A Big Mouth game released via the app store could be age restricted to ensure anyone under the appropriate age cannot play the game, or the potential game could tone down some of the more graphic elements of the show. Much like Stranger Things: The Game, players could rotate between the primary characters of the show: Nick, Andrew, Jessie, Missy, and Jay and defeat different bosses depending on who the player is.
The show’s protagonists have fought their fair share of unsavory adversaries, which would translate well to level-based gameplay. Each character could fight their biggest rival as the boss battle—maybe the game could have a heartwarming theme of facing fears head-on as opposed to letting them fester. It wouldn’t even be the first time Big Mouth has had an overarching moral of the story—it is a show about puberty, after all.
If a mobile game were to be developed for Big Mouth in a similar fashion to Stranger Things: The Game, it’s important to note that the Hormone Monsters wouldn’t be enemies, but rather helpful guides along the way. They could pop in and out to alert players of different controls or new abilities, like tutorial guides. Actual enemies the kids could face would include people (or entities) like Nick Starr, Depression Kitty, and Jay’s brothers Kurt and Val.
Right now, there’s no official news that anything like this is in development, but Big Mouth has told its story in such a way that translating it to a video game—especially a mobile app—would be an easy jump. More than that, it could potentially be a lot of fun to play, but until such a time, fans can always re-watch the show on Netflix.
Stranger Things The Game is available now on mobile.