The Crooked Man

**The Crooked Man** is a supernatural horror game made by **Uri**. It is the first installment in **Strange Men Series**.

## Plot

In *The Crooked Man*, you play as David Hoover, a troubled single man who just bought a new apartment with the help of his two friends, Paul and Marion. Soon, he realizes that there may be something wrong with the place. It seems somehow... haunted. Not long after, he finds a letter. And another. Soon he follows a trail of notes, which lead him to abandoned areas in town. However, he isn't alone. Along the way he meets a variety of people who each have their own problems, all similar to David's. And at each stop he sees one familiar face... A man with an impossibly bent neck. Between avoiding him, and solving many riddles, you are sure to have a great time with *The Crooked Man*.

## Endings

### **Bad End 1: "What a Sissy."**

If David chooses to tell Sissi, "Please.. don't cry...", she will break her precious box in order to "forget" the person who gave it to her. Not long afterwards, the door behind them opens and The Crooked man drags Sissi inside. David runs up to the door and pounds at it, trying to save the screaming Sissi from The Crooked Man. Suddenly her screaming stops and blood gushes from under the door all over the stairs. David backs away in shock and the door opens again. The Crooked Man then comes out to David and kills him.

### **Bad End 2: "Never, Never give up."**

Should David choose to tell D "You shouldn't give up.", D, in a fit of rage for being misunderstood, will stab David in the chest. Just as D himself leaves however, The Crooked Man will arrive and kill him. As David is continuing to bleed out, he walks over and tells him:

"It wasn't me. It was you. You killed him, and yourself... David." Then he exits the room and David bleeds out then dies.

### **Bad End 3: "Goodbye!! My Friend."**

At the scene where Paul arrives to David about to commit suicide, should he try to "Persuade" David against it, David will lash out and pull the trigger. The scene ends with David on the ground, covered in blood, with Paul backing away in horror.

### **Bad End 4: "Not Your Fault, David!"**

Should the player choose to "Take the gun,", Paul will come up and attempt to forcefully snatch the gun away from David, causing David to accidentally shoot him. Paul will back away a few steps and collapse on his own blood with David coming to his senses and rushing towards him. As David falls into shock at his accidental murder of his friend, Paul will tell him that it wasn't his fault and that David "was not a bad guy," before dying. The scene ends with David backing away from Paul's body and promptly shooting himself.

### **Good End: "Bye Bye Blackbird."**

After defeating and vanquishing The Crooked Man, David climbs up the ladder to the attic and finds the hanged, skeletal, body of Duke MacGahan. There, Duke talks about how he detested David for having such a similar life, but was still able to live comfortably, and wanted to drag him down because of it. But he also wished to save David from experiencing a similar fate. David then comes up to the body and thanks him, telling Duke that now, he can rest in peace.

The scene changes to David at Paul and Marion's house, talking about the incident of David finding a corpse on his trip. When Marion leaves to make tea, David tells Paul about how Duke was beaten by The Crooked Man and how The Crooked Man was always right behind him, whispering to him whenever he was depressed. David then ponders on how he would have probably went on the same path as Duke had Duke not reached out to him. David's phone then rings, His mother's condition had taken a turn, and they were now forced to go with the operation. David rushes to the hospital and meets with the doctor, and goes through with the operation.

After the tumor was successfully removed, David waits in his mother's room, the sound of the heart monitor echoing. His mother then awakens, much to David's joy. After a heartfelt moment between mother and son, David walks out to fetch his mother water and arrives back to her room with her now dead.

After his mother was buried, they return to David's apartment with David telling Paul how he wished to live a happy life with no regrets, despite whatever trials and suffering he;ll have to go through to get there. Marion then walks in with Shirley in tow, causing Paul to snap at her, only to be stopped my Marion and dragged out of the room, leaving the two alone. There, Shirley apologizes to David for dumping him despite all the things David has done for her and hesitantly asks if they could start over. David begins to cry in happiness at this, and the two reunite.

The scenes ends with David in the graveyard, placing a pack of cigarettes at Duke's gravestone.

At the second playthrough, David finds Duke who was about to commit suicide. Duke spoke of how painful his life was and asked if it wasn't the same for David. When David replied that it was at first, he asked what changed. David then talked about how he met someone, and how this person had also suffered the same thing he had to go through. While consoling him, he realized how the things he said to him were also the things he wanted someone to have said to him, and thus, was able to save himself while saving him. After their talk, Duke asks him to leave, when David turns around to leave however, Duke once again calls out to him, thanking him for coming, and when he turns back, only the hanging corpse remains.

Duke also appears at the ending of the game when David and Shirley get back together, watching over them for a moment before promptly leaving the room.