You awake in a nightmarish carnival and watch a golden-haired woman hurl herself down a bottomless well for your sake. You seek clues and help from jeering ravens, an eyeless scribe, a living furnace, a mismade mermaid, and many more who dwell within the park. All the while, a shadow shrieks fr...
You awake in a nightmarish carnival and watch a golden-haired woman hurl herself down a bottomless well for your sake. You seek clues and help from jeering ravens, an eyeless scribe, a living furnace, a mismade mermaid, and many more who dwell within the park. All the while, a shadow shrieks from atop a towering roller-coaster, and you know that until you destroy this Dark Thing, the woman will keep jumping, falling, and dying, over and over again.... Strangeland is a classic point-and-click adventure that integrates a compelling narrative with engaging puzzles. For almost a decade, we've been working on a worthy successor to the fan-acclaimed Primordia, and we are proud, at long last, to share our second game.
Strangeland is a place like no other. Even in the real world, carnivals occupy a twilight territory between the fantastic and the mundane, the alien and the familiar. In their funhouse mirrors, their freaks, and their frauds, we see hideous and haunting reflections of ourselves, and we witness the wonder and horror of humanity in just a few frayed tents, peeling circus wagons, dingy booths, and run-down rides. Strangeland, of course, is most definitely not the real world. Indeed, figuring out where—and who—you are is one of the game's many mysteries.
As you explore Strangeland, you will need to gather otherworldly tools and win strange allies to overcome a daunting array of obstacles. Forge a blade from iron stolen from the jaws of a ravenous hound and hone it with wrath and grief; charm the eye out of a ten-legged teratoma; and ride a giant cicada to the edge of oblivion.... Amidst such madness, death itself has no grip on you, and you will wield that slippery immortality to gain an edge over your foes.
Navigating this domain of monsters and metaphors will require understanding its denizens and its enigmas. Unlike many adventure games that offer a linear experience and single-solution puzzles, Strangeland lets you pick your own way, your own approach, and your own meaning—one player might win a carnival game with sharpshooting, another by electrical engineering; one player might unravel a strange prophet's wordplay while another gathers visual clues scattered throughout the environment. Ultimately, Strangeland's story will be your story. You are not the audience; you are the player.
Approximately five hours of gameplay, replayable thanks to different choices, different puzzle solutions, and different endings
Breathtaking pixel art in twice Primordia's resolution (640x360—party like it's 1999!)
Dozens of rooms to explore, with variant versions as the carnival grows ever more twisted
An eccentric cast, including a sideshow freak, a telepathic starfish, an animatronic fortune-teller, and a trio of masqueraders
Full, professional voice over and hours of original music
A rich, thematic story about identity, loss, self-doubt, and redemption
Integrated, in-character hint system (optional, of course)
Hours of developer commentary and an "annotation mode" (providing on-screen explanations for the references woven throughout the game)
At Wormwood Studios, we make games out of love—love for the games we've spent our lifetimes playing, love for the games we ourselves create, and love for the players who have made all of those games possible. We know that players invest not just their money and time in the games they play, but also their hope and enthusiasm. And we want to make sure that players receive a rich return on that investment by creating games that provide not only a fun, challenging diversion for a few hours, but also lasting memories to keep for years.
We think the best way to achieve that with Strangeland is to adhere to the genius of the adventure genre: the marriage of challenging puzzles and thrilling exploration, on the one hand, with an engaging narrative, on the other. At the same time, we've tried to remove the punitive aspects of adventure games (deaths, dead ends, illogical puzzles, pixel hunting, backtracking, etc.). Within this framework, we add uncanny visuals, memorable characters, and thought-provoking themes. The result for Primordia was a game that has received thousands of positive player reviews, and we have refined our approach further with Strangeland. We hope it will not disappoint the players who have given us such great support and encouragement over the years! And we hope that it will find a place in the hearts of new players as well.
There's a fine line between leaving some things up to player interpretation, and leaving too much up to player interpretation.
If you don't give the player enough concrete details about who the characters are, they can't develop meaningful relationships with the characters. And hence they never develop a deep caring for where the characters came from, and where they're going.
And if you give too many concrete details, players will fail to generalize the lessons from the story to their own life and situation, making the whole experience less personally impactful.
Strangeland leans towards the former: not giving enough details about it's characters.
We aren't given any concrete glimpses into the protagonist's life, nor the woman's. This is a fine artistic choice, but it's also a risk, and one that didn't quite connect in this case.
I wanted this game to lag in my memory, to be memorable enough that it would spark memories years from now when I see a crow sitting on a tree branch, or a park bench underneath an old gnarled tree. But it started and ended as an allegory, and hence lingers in my mind like an abstract concept, without enough roots to firmly implant itself.
Yet, at the same time, how wonderful is it that there's a game I can say that about? "It started and ended as an allegory". It's a tremendous artistic ambition to create a game like that. And perhaps, for myself, that's the most important lesson I'll remember from Strangeland.
I was betatester of this game and I have played it several times so I know what I am talking about when making this review. First of all, don’t expect another Primordia. This game is very different because it was made from grieve, it was made not only from the heart but the very soul itself (if you want to know the inspirations for the game, just google Strangeland inspirations). It is complicated to talk about the game without spoilers, but I will try.
The game is strange, yes, bizarre, disconcerting until you keep putting all the pieces together. Puzzles are logical, you have a helping hot line so it is difficult to get stuck. Visuals are superb, the sound is outstanding and the characters… well, it is better you discover them yourself.
It’s a game that Goya would have painted if he could. It’s a game that Borges would had written if he could. It’s a game that touches you, that makes you suffer with the main character, but hey, there is no gain without pain. Don’t expect a Disney story here.
To nitpick, I would say there are too many quotes in the game, but that’s how the author wanted to write it, so who am I to judge?
Is it a game for everybody? Probably not, as The Cat Lady or Fran Bow. But if you are not afraid of darkness, madness, you like H. R. Giger work, or just want to get on board on a trip through a strange Carnival or Theme Park, you will enjoy it as much as I did.
I strongly recommend to replay the game with annotations. You will learn a lot from a lot of things, and you will find out why the game is like it is.
And as The Smiths used to say, “There is a light that never goes out…”
Strangeland is difficult to define without giving too much away, but you may still be looking for answers at the end. I loved Primordia, and the production values here are the same or better, but the thread of a plot is a bit more blurry. Many of the concepts and symbols aren't entirely clear to everyone. The Black Dog is obvious to many, but not a phrase others have heard. Combined with a protaganist that doesn't have an arc so much as travels through this strange land (I will not apologize for the pun) as an observer through most of the game.
The world itself is more of the star, with classic point and click levels of exploration. It's very well constructed, but, once again, isn't as clear as I think it was meant to be.
A playthrough may be around four hours, and may end with more confusion than payoff. I had only heavy suspicions about what was intended to be clear about the plot. However, the game features annotations and commentary that finishes painting the scene, and can be used to get a better handle on the plot. Even skipping a chunk of dialogue, animations, and time spent pondering puzzles, that was another four hours of game time.
As a grand experiment or a philisophical art piece, it's top tier. As a game, it lacks a compelling journey, and the hero is a bit bland despite terrific voice acting. Speaking of, the voice acting, visual and audio effects, and art are all amazingly at home, making it all the better.
I desperately wish I could give it four and a half stars, but the hero lacks a journey, and I can't give it five stars. I still highly recommend it if you are interested enough to read this far. It's worth your time if you're interested in these kinds of worlds.
It's not for everyone and it's not another Primordia that's for sure. It's a surreal experience. Bit heavy handed when it comes to symbolism and it's more about how you will feel at the end rather than what story you have been told. If you like dark adventure games, absolutely get it. There's a chance you might not like it and there's a chance you will never forget this game. It's worth to check out.
The game sometimes feels kind of flat. It focuses too much on some of it's (rather unique?) mechanics and ideas and a bit too little on actually being immersive, intriguing or enjoyable. I can think of several things that impressed me, but I didn't actually enjoy the game that much. Played it a while ago, my mind has finally decided it's 3/5.
