Mise En Abyme

This article contains spoilers from There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension. Continue at your own risk.

## Mise En Abyme

### Succeeded By

Behind the Scenes

**Mise En Abyme** (pronounced *mee-zan-nah-BEEM*) (stylized as **Mise en abyme**) is the first chapter of There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension.

The thumbnail of the chapter has the Squirrel from Flying Squirrel OS, a grey Cog, some chains and ropes, and letters that spelled out the word "GAME".

## Plot

The story begins when the user starts up the program, where Game tells you there is no game. From there the user finds a button saying play, but Game prevents you from pressing it. After the user unlocks the button, Game sends them into a fake loading screen and places a fake error. Afterwards, Game sends the user to a fake computer desktop, where the user finds a way to open the program. Then the user gets sent to an Indian version of the game, a Russian version, a French version, a Japanese version, and other versions of the game. And throughout the first four, the user encounters an entity by the name of Mr. Glitch. Mr. Glitch forces the player to destroy each title screen. In the end, the user and Game get sent to another dimension, kicking off the next chapter, Behind the Scenes.

## Characters

* Game
* Mr. Glitch
* Indian Voice
* Russian Voice
* French Voice
* Japanese Voice

## Items

* Scissors from Roshambo
* The metal Letter T
* Game's Cursor
* Grey Key
* French Flag
* Gold Key
* Large Cog
* Small Cog
* Bottle Opener
* Bumper from WORST PINBALL EVER
* Trophy / Filled Trophy
* Hazelnut / Cracked Hazelnut
* Black Key

## Quotes

* **Game:** Hello, user! This is the program speaking. I have bad news... Actually, there is no game.
* **Game:** You want to play a game. All right. We're going to play... umm... Roshambo! Oh, we're gonna have a great time!
* **Indian narrator:** Namaste user! This is the program speaking. I have bad news... Actually, this is not a game.
* **Russian narrator:** Hello comrade user! Bad news, game forbidden.
* **French narrator:** Bonjour user! I have bad news... Actually, there is no jeu.
* **Japanese narrator:** Konichiwa! Gemu ga arimasen!
* **Indian narrator:** I knew it! We are all going to die!
	+ **Game:** Oh shut up you!

## Trivia

* This chapter barrows many elements from the original flash version, reusing many pieces of dialogue, puzzles, and general ideas. This was apparently the intention, according to one of the game's 2D artists Nico Nowak.
* "Mise En Abyme" is a French art term essentially meaning "a picture within a picture". This refers to how the game is technically a game (the fictional character) within a game (the actual game).
	+ It could also refer to the ending of the chapter, in which you keep entering another game within the game.
* In Back Home, after losing the Rogue Quiz, it appears as if the user has to restart the entire game. However, when you click on the first chapter, you actually continue the chapter.

### Cultural References

* When breaking the game's title, Game will compare the simplicity of it's gameplay to several other well known games, including *Pong*, *Snake*, and "Candy Saga" (alluding to *Candy Crush Saga*).
* Game mentions "Battle of Duty" as a game where you break things. This is a play on *Call of Duty*, a popular first person shooter franchise.
	+ This joke was later referenced in the Limited Run release of There is No Game: Wrong Dimension on Switch, with a poster of Hero and Princess fighting in a battle-royale inspired world.
* WORST PINBALL EVER is possibly a reference to *Space Cadet*, a 3D pinball game packaged with Windows computers.
* The Russian Voice asks the intruders to "show him papers", to which Game says "only if you say please", in reference to the video game *Papers, Please* (a game with influences from Soviet Russia).
* When encountering the French Voice, the Russian Voice asks if he is a "french spy". This is likely a reference to *Team Fortress 2*, where one of the playable characters is a Spy with a French accent.

## Gallery

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/Nico\_n\_art/status/1331602130747191300?s=20