⚠️ CONTENT WARNING & SPOILER ALERT
This review contains full spoilers for Bad Things and discusses themes including emotional abuse, manipulation, psychological distress, and suicide. The game explores toxic relationships and mental health struggles. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
Bad Things, created by ThatCactusMan, stands apart from typical Roblox horror experiences. This 16-scene narrative has earned a cult following, with fans dubbing it “doomed yaoi” – a reference to tragic queer relationships destined for ruin. The game delivers no jump scares, only the slow unraveling of a friendship poisoned by obsession, trauma, and the desperate need to be remembered.
Inspired by works like The Beginner’s Guide, Mouthwashing, and House of Leaves, Bad Things uses alternating perspectives to tell a story that’s uncomfortably human. Even-numbered scenes show Ivan’s viewpoint, while odd-numbered scenes reveal Andrew’s experiences through game metaphors.
Roblox Bad Things Overview: Characters
Ivan – A deeply insecure young man traumatized by his firefighter father’s death and poorly-attended funeral. Haunted by the fear of dying forgotten, Ivan becomes obsessed with leaving a legacy. He fixates on his friend Andrew’s talent, eventually transforming admiration into a desperate need for control.
Andrew – A talented indie Roblox game developer struggling financially and emotionally. After being rejected by his religious parents for coming out as gay, Andrew becomes homeless and moves in with Ivan. What begins as friendship turns into a nightmare of psychological and physical abuse.
The Tumor – A grotesque entity representing Ivan’s deteriorating mental state, obsessive need for control, and the “sickness” consuming their relationship. It manifests throughout the game as Ivan’s resentment festers.
The Story of Roblox Bad Things
The Foundation of Tragedy
The game opens with Ivan’s deepest trauma: experiencing his father’s final moments as a firefighter, crushed by debris in a burning building. Ivan’s father died heroically, yet his funeral drew few attendees. This planted a consuming terror: dying forgotten, leaving no mark on the world. This fear drives everything that follows.
When Friendship Felt Real
Early scenes show a genuine connection. Ivan and Andrew meet at Ivan’s apartment to discuss Andrew’s Roblox projects. Ivan brings a rewritten script, eagerly proposing to co-write Andrew’s game. Andrew gently refuses – Ivan helps most by being his friend, not a collaborator. Andrew gifts Ivan a plant to brighten his windowless apartment.
The player experiences one of Andrew’s games: a peaceful island with simple parkour. It’s creative, personal, entirely his vision.
Cracks appear when Ivan visits Andrew’s rented house. Andrew faces eviction due to money troubles. Sent to fetch rosemary from the backyard, Ivan discovers Andrew threw his script in the trash. This rejection stings – Andrew doesn’t value Ivan’s creative input the way Ivan desperately needs.
The Power Shift
Everything changes when Andrew loses everything. Evicted and rejected by his religious parents after coming out as gay, Andrew moves into Ivan’s apartment with three boxes of belongings. He has nowhere else to go.
Ivan now holds complete power over someone he admires. This imbalance proves catastrophic.
Descent Into Obsession
The game introduces The Tumor through surreal hospital navigation. Using a “Clip Detector” to phase through walls, the player eventually encounters a grotesque entity on Ivan’s rooftop.
The Tumor represents Ivan’s festering mental state – his obsession with legacy, his need for control, the rot consuming their relationship.
Ivan’s internal justification manifests through disturbing sequences. A dark reflection called “Ivan?” confronts him, claiming he needs Andrew to remain struggling so Ivan can feel successful. One of Andrew’s games shows a sailor progressively sacrificing everything to maintain a dying fire – coal, crates, ladders, eventually severing limbs. The sailor crawls into the flames as the final sacrifice.
This is Andrew’s reality: constant self-destruction to sustain something that only consumes him.
The Nightmare Made Real
The most brutal revelation comes when perspective shifts to Andrew’s experience living under Ivan’s roof.
The apartment has no ceiling. A monstrous presence watches from above, issuing commands. Andrew unpacks his belongings, sets up his computer, and arranges a makeshift bed. A giant hand gives him the key to Ivan’s room, then takes the fire axe from the wall.
At the computer, Andrew is forced to write meaningless, repetitive text – Ivan’s empty quotes.
Day by day, horror escalates. Andrew types fragments: “and he keeps adding quotes and I swear I’ve told him to stop.”
The monster destroys his couch. He locks himself in the bathroom – the only safe place. He writes: “knocking, always knocking and shouting and slamming doors, I’ve been sleeping in the bathroom. I’m not safe here.”
When Andrew tries leaving, the monster blocks the door. He runs to the bathroom. The monster breaks through and strangles him until he nearly dies.
Text appears: “There are cysts on the walls.” Andrew writes: “Scrape free the bloody mess.” These quotes mean nothing to me. Nothing to me and everything to you. To you. To you.”
Given a hammer to remove cysts, Andrew watches as the monster steals it. He crawls through a bloody tunnel to retrieve it from a nightmarish mirrored apartment. After removing the last cyst, the monster chases him with a fire axe. An exit breaks through the wall. Andrew escapes.
This isn’t a metaphor – it’s Andrew’s actual experience. The sleep deprivation, creative violation, physical intimidation, and violence all happened.
The Breaking Point
Ivan deliberately wakes Andrew at night, then argues about the unwanted quotes he forces into Andrew’s games. When Ivan guilt-trips him, Andrew reveals the truth: he’s moving out as “a Christmas present” to himself.
While Ivan hallucinates his father’s funeral, Andrew escapes.
Betrayal and Revenge
Alone in his empty apartment, Ivan touches Andrew’s computer. The Tumor jumpscares him, triggering complete mental collapse.
Ivan hallucinates dinner with Andrew and his parents. His charred, faceless father appears. The conversation devolves into mockery – Andrew and Ivan’s mother calling him unoriginal, someone who “takes and takes and takes.”
The hallucination builds to Ivan swinging a fire axe at handcuffed Andrew. When the axe connects, Ivan snaps back to reality. He’s published Andrew’s unfinished games without permission – a public betrayal meant to destroy Andrew’s future.
Andrew’s Final Words
Andrew’s response comes as text scattered across walls while the player escapes The Tumor:
“I will be releasing these games, along with evidence of your abuse, at midnight.”
Andrew explains he hated his early work, needed justification for existing. “I found no justification through games, of course. I found it through you.”
“You admired me in a way I never had. You were stupid enough to think I brought value to the world, and I was stupid enough to believe you.”
Then everything changed.
“But now, I’ve escaped. And now, I’m different. It’s not self-hatred anymore. It’s apathy.”
“Apathy, and a little piece of you in the back of my mind. Like an axe mounted on the wall. apathy to myself, and a tremendous, crushing hatred for you.”
The letter concludes: “because i love you or, i loved before, but now i hate you” and “im glad your dad never knew the person you raised and when you finally listen, i still wont come back dont try to find me”
Later, Andrew confronts Ivan in person. In one cathartic moment, Andrew slaps Ivan so hard he collapses. The screen saturates red.
The True Ending Explained
The final scene opens with a flashback – Ivan comforting Andrew after he came out and faced rejection. This memory contrasts sharply with what Ivan became.
The scene shifts to present. Ivan stands outside his apartment, enters, takes the elevator, and walks down an endlessly descending corridor until he falls into nightmare.
Ivan traverses dark corridors with monsters, the farmhouse with pursuing entities, and his parents’ burning home where a faceless version of himself attacks. The faceless Ivan must be struck with an axe across three increasingly difficult encounters.
Finally, Ivan finds Andrew sitting dead in a chair with the “Real Axe” splitting his head. Ivan removes the axe, caresses Andrew’s face, and kisses him – revealing repressed romantic feelings that intensified his obsession.
An elevator transports Ivan through previous locations. At Andrew’s house, Ivan tries apologizing, but his words sound “repetitive, robotic, and fake.” Andrew rejects him completely.
Ivan confronts The Tumor one final time. It offers him a choice. Ivan refuses.
Back in his apartment, Ivan lights a candle, then turns the stove on – releasing gas. He heads to the roof access where his fire axe is stuck in the door. Climbing stairs that shift between normal, bloody, and surreal versions, one phrase repeats: “Make a name for yourself.”
Reaching the rooftop where he once sat with Andrew, Ivan walks to the ledge and steps off. The camera shows his body splattered below. Credits roll.
The badge reads: “To Thine Own Self Be True” – bitter irony from Hamlet, since Ivan was never honest with himself.
What Actually Happened:
The “dead Andrew” was Ivan’s hallucination. Andrew is alive – his letter proves he escaped and plans to expose Ivan’s abuse.
Ivan fills his apartment with gas, then jumps from the rooftop. His obsession with being remembered drove him to destroy the one genuine connection he had. His “legacy” became abuse, betrayal, and self-destruction.
Our Verdict
Roblox Bad Things achieves genuine emotional devastation without exploitation. This isn’t about being scared – it’s about being uncomfortably moved by a story that refuses easy answers.
What Makes It Work:
The alternating perspectives brilliantly contrast Ivan’s self-justification with Andrew’s lived horror. The symbolism enhances rather than obscures – the dying plant, The Tumor, the sailor’s sacrifice all translate psychological concepts into interactive experience.
The writing hits hardest in Andrew’s letter. The progression from “These quotes mean nothing to me” to “Nothing to me and everything to you. To you. To you.” mirrors how victims desperately try to be heard.
The ending refuses redemption. Ivan doesn’t change, doesn’t heal, doesn’t deserve forgiveness. That honesty elevates the entire experience.
The Challenges:
Bad Things demands patience. The 16-scene structure requires commitment, and symbolic sequences might frustrate players seeking conventional gameplay. The subject matter is genuinely difficult – this explores abuse without softening reality.
Some metaphors require interpretation. The game trusts its audience, which works brilliantly when engaged but might lose casual players.
Final Thoughts
Bad Things proves Roblox can deliver mature, sophisticated storytelling. Inspired by The Beginner’s Guide and Mouthwashing, ThatCactusMan created something that asks hard questions about trauma, obsession, and the damage people inflict while desperately trying to matter.
Andrew survives with permanent scars. The game’s wisdom isn’t about Ivan’s death – it’s about Andrew’s survival and the difficult healing ahead.
If you can handle heavy themes and value storytelling that takes risks, Bad Things deserves your time. Just prepare yourself emotionally.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Andrew is alive and escaped. The “dead Andrew” Ivan encounters is a hallucination representing guilt and their destroyed relationship. Andrew’s letter proves he survived and plans to release his games with evidence of abuse.
The Tumor symbolizes Ivan’s deteriorating mental state, obsessive need for control, and the “sickness” poisoning their relationship. It manifests as Ivan’s resentment grows and cannot be escaped – mirroring Andrew’s trapped situation.
After destroying his relationship with Andrew, publicly betraying him, and facing complete rejection, Ivan realizes his desperate attempt to “make a name for himself” only created ruin. He fills his apartment with gas, then jumps to his death.
Yes. The final scene reveals this when Ivan kisses Andrew’s hallucinated body. Ivan’s obsession stemmed partly from repressed romantic feelings he never acknowledged, which intensified his need to control Andrew.
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