She’s a mess. Honestly, that’s the first thing you realize when you start playing. Margaret "Mae" Borowski isn't your typical hero, and she definitely isn't a role model. She’s a 20-year-old college dropout who slinks back to her dying rust-belt hometown of Possum Springs because her brain basically "short-circuited." If you’ve ever felt like a failure for just... existing, then Night in the Woods Mae is probably a character that lives rent-free in your head.
There is something deeply uncomfortable about the way Scott Benson, Bethany Hockenberry, and Alec Holowka wrote her. She’s loud. She’s often rude. She’s incredibly selfish at times, especially toward her parents who are drowning in debt. But that’s the point. The game doesn't ask you to like her; it asks you to understand the absolute terror of being young, mentally ill, and watching the world move on without you.
The Reality of the Dropout Blues
Mae returns home to find that things didn't freeze in place while she was gone. Her childhood bedroom feels smaller. Her friends have jobs. Her best friend, Gregg, is trying to grow up (kind of), and Bea—who used to be her best friend—is stuck running a hardware store while mourning a life she never got to have.
The writing captures a specific kind of millennial/Gen Z purgatory. Mae expects a "reset" button. Instead, she gets a town that’s literally crumbling under the weight of late-stage capitalism and a supernatural presence that might just be a metaphor for her own deteriorating mental state. Or maybe it's a real cult. It’s usually both in Possum Springs.
Dissociation and the "Shapes"
One of the most factual, grounded aspects of Mae’s character is her struggle with depersonalization and derealization. She refers to it as seeing "shapes." This isn't just some quirky indie game mechanic. It’s a terrifyingly accurate depiction of a mental health crisis. Mae tells a story about a softball game where she looked at a kid and didn't see a person—she just saw a collection of parts.
She saw shapes. This incident led to a violent outburst that stained her reputation in town long before she left for college. When she describes the world feeling "flat" or like it’s made of nothing, she’s describing a clinical detachment from reality. For many players, seeing this articulated in a game about a cartoon cat was a "holy crap" moment of recognition. It’s not "sadness." It’s a terrifying void.
Why Possum Springs Feels So Real
The setting of Possum Springs is just as much a character as Mae herself. It’s a town built on coal mines and glass factories that don't exist anymore. You spend your days walking across power lines, jumping on mailboxes, and poking at dead squirrels with sticks. It’s aimless.
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- You visit the Snack Falcon.
- You hang out at the bridge.
- You try to play bass in a band that's objectively not very good.
- You realize your dad is working extra shifts just to keep the house from being foreclosed on.
The tension in Mae's house is thick. Her parents love her, but they don't get her. They sacrificed their retirement for her tuition, and she blew it. She can't explain why. She doesn't have the vocabulary yet. That silence between Mae and her father at the kitchen table? That’s where the real horror of the game lives. It's not in the ghost stories; it's in the realization that you've let down the people who love you most and you don't know how to fix it.
The Complicated Friendships of Mae Borowski
Let's talk about Bea Santello. If Mae is the "unstoppable force" of childhood regression, Bea is the "immovable object" of adult responsibility. Bea is arguably the best-written character in the game because she provides the necessary friction for Mae’s growth.
While Mae was away "finding herself" (and failing), Bea was watching her mother die and taking over a business she hates. When Mae complains about being bored, Bea’s resentment is palpable. It’s a brutal, honest look at how class and circumstance dictate who gets to be a "troubled youth" and who just has to shut up and work.
Then there’s Gregg. "Gregg rules ok." He’s Mae’s partner in crime, the one who encourages her "crimes" (mostly smashing lightbulbs and stealing animatronic components). But even Gregg is outgrowing her. He’s moving to the city with Angus. He’s trying to be a better version of himself. Mae represents his past, and as the game progresses, you see the strain of him trying to hold onto his friendship with Mae while reaching for a future she isn't part of yet.
The Mystery in the Woods
Is there a cult? Yes. Are they sacrificing people to a giant hole in the ground? Also yes. But even this "supernatural" element is grounded in reality. The cult members aren't hooded wizards; they’re the town’s former leaders. They’re old men who watched their town die and decided that if they sacrificed the "useless" members of society—the drifters, the runaways, the dropouts like Mae—maybe the "Black Goat" would bring the jobs back.
It’s a chillingly literal take on how older generations can sometimes prey on the young to maintain a status quo that’s already gone. The cult wants the 1950s back. Mae just wants to feel like a person again.
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Understanding the "Ending"
People often argue about the ending of the game. It’s abrupt. It doesn't answer every question. But that’s the point of Mae’s journey. She doesn't "cure" her mental illness. The town doesn't suddenly get a massive economic infusion.
What happens is smaller. Mae decides to keep trying. She realizes that even if everything is eventually going to end—even if the universe is a cold, dead place—she’s here right now. She has her friends. She has her shitty bass guitar.
"At the end of everything, hold on to anything."
That’s the core of Night in the Woods. It’s about finding meaning in the trash piles. It’s about the "profoundly okay."
The Legacy of the Character
Mae Borowski changed how we talk about mental health in gaming. She isn't a "maniac" or a "victim." She’s just a person who is struggling to navigate a world that feels increasingly hostile.
She reminds us that:
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- It is okay to not be okay, but you still have to take responsibility for the people you hurt.
- Your hometown will change, and that’s a grief you have to process.
- Friendship is a choice you make every day, not just a shared history.
- Sometimes, you just need to smash some lightbulbs behind a convenience store.
How to Engage with the Story Today
If you’re revisiting the game or playing it for the first time, pay attention to the journal. Mae’s sketches are her way of processing the world. They change based on who you spend time with. If you hang out with Bea, the tone is different than if you spend your nights with Gregg.
The game demands multiple playthroughs because you literally cannot see everything in one go. You have to choose who to neglect. That’s a heavy mechanic. It forces you to realize that time is a finite resource, especially when your world is falling apart.
Takeaways for the Player:
- Don't rush the days. Talk to everyone. Talk to the sun-bleached guy on the roof. Talk to the poetry teacher. The world is in the details.
- Acknowledge the class struggle. The game is a critique of how rural America was abandoned. Don't ignore the political subtext; it's the foundation of the plot.
- Listen to the music. Alec Holowka’s soundtrack is essential to the atmosphere. It captures the "fall weather" feeling perfectly.
- Accept the ambiguity. You won't get a "perfect" ending where everyone is happy. You get an ending where everyone survives. Sometimes, that's enough.
Night in the Woods remains a masterpiece because it refuses to give easy answers. Mae Borowski is a mirror. Whether you see yourself in her mistakes or her resilience, she’s a character that sticks with you long after the credits roll and the autumn leaves stop falling.
Next Steps for Fans:
To truly appreciate the depth of the writing, try a "Bea-only" or "Gregg-only" run to see the vastly different narrative arcs. Additionally, look into the Longest Night and Lost Constellation supplemental games; they provide essential lore about the constellations and folk tales that Mae mentions throughout the main story. These side stories flesh out the history of Possum Springs and make the final act's revelations feel much more earned. Finally, check out the "Weird Autumn" edition updates if you haven't played recently, as they add several new "hangouts" and town events that weren't in the original release.