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Upon reflecting on leads in scary games, Barbie is not the first name that comes to mind. But anyone who experienced the charmingly eerie 1998 PC game Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper recognizes that Barbie certainly holds final girl potential.

The Unusual Storyline

The storyline is fittingly bizarre: Barbie and her companion Becky have just graduated from their neighborhood investigator school, since naturally that's a real concept. A "seasonal fundraising festival" is taking place locally, and Ken is somehow the event organizer, even though he and Barbie are implied to be teens. But the night before the carnival begins, tragedy strikes: Ken goes missing via a magic act accident, and the charity money disappears with him! Of course, it's up to Detective Barbie, her friend Becky (who acts as her "guy in the chair"), and the player to solve the mystery of his absence.

Investigator Barbie was uttering user names aloud far earlier than Fallout 4 and Starfield used the feature — and she could articulate virtually all names.

The Strangeness Begins

The peculiarity emerges almost right away. Upon starting up the game, users are invited to pick their name from a list, and Barbie will verbally refer to the player by name during the entire adventure. It's hard to stress how long and thorough this selection of names is. For those who has historically had trouble finding keychains with your name on them at gift shops, you might think you're out of luck here, but you're mistaken. There are thousands of names on the list, which looks to include almost all versions of every feminine forename in existence, from very usual to surprisingly rare. Even though Barbie utters the player's name with a frankly terrifying amount of lively energy, it doesn't seem like text-to-speech, which has me questioning how long Barbie actress Chris Anthony Lansdowne spent in the recording booth reciting almost all female name under the sun.

Investigating the Fair

Once players have entered their name, they assume control over Barbie as she examines the area of the crime. It's late at night, and she's all alone (except for Becky, who occasionally checks in via the Crime Computer). Looking back, I can't get over how much roaming about the game's eerie fair location is similar to playing Silent Hill 3. Sure, this carnival lacks blood and rust, or plagued by frightening monsters like Lakeside Amusement Park, but the atmosphere is distinctly spooky. Things only get more anxiety-provoking when Barbie begins observing a dark figure roaming the grounds. Turns out she's not by herself after all.

It's hard to beat a anxious follow down a absurdly lengthy chute to boost your adrenaline.

Eerie Attractions and Pursuits

While controlling Barbie through more and more creepy amusements and displays (the spooky decoration closet still gives me nightmares), the player will discover hints, which she transmits to Becky to analyze. The clues ultimately lead Barbie to the unknown person's location, and it's up to her to hunt them down, chasing Ken's kidnapper through a selection of amusement park standards including collision vehicles, an massive chute with diverging routes, and a dimly lit tunnel of love. These chases were truly thrilling — the music turns suspenseful, and a single misstep could cause the suspect getting away.

Unexpected Complexity

Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper had a surprising level of depth, especially for a end-of-the-century interactive title designed for girl youths. Instead of dressing up Barbie, or interacting with her ponies, Detective Barbie centered on real game mechanics, had a compelling story, and was creepy as hell. It even had certain replayability — every game session changed the varieties of hints players would discover, and concerning Ken's kidnapper, there were multiple suspects — the identity of the guilty party changed each time you played. Once the mystery was solved, players could even print out a young sleuth emblem to show off for maximum girl-world street cred.

The earliest scare! The clues in this room creak loudly or pop up suddenly as players examine them.

Influence and Successors

Naturally, after a handful of reruns, you'd finally encounter everything the game had to offer, but it was amazing in its era, and even produced two follow-ups: 1999's Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery, and 2000's Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise. The company continues releasing Barbie video games nowadays — the next one is Barbie Horse Tails (yes, another pony care/styling experience), which releases later this month. Although the visuals are a clear enhancement over Detective Barbie, I doubt Barbie Horse Tails contains the same level of gameplay depth, repeat appeal, or overall eeriness as its end-of-century ancestors, which is somewhat disappointing.

A Gateway to Horror

Despite the brand's primary aims for the game, Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper ended up becoming my gateway to the horror genre, and I'd love to see Detective Barbie appear in another playful-yet-eerie game that involves more than dress-up and horse-riding. The globe contains plenty of horse girls, but it could absolutely employ more resilient kid investigators unraveling critical benefit festival cases.