Void Stranger
| Void Stranger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | System Erasure |
| Designer(s) |
|
| Programmer(s) | Eero Lahtinen |
| Artist(s) | Antti Ukkola |
| Composer(s) | Eero Lahtinen |
| Engine | GameMaker Studio |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | 1 September 2023 |
| Genre(s) | |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Void Stranger is a 2023 sokoban-style puzzle video game created by independent Finnish developer System Erasure. Players control a character descending to the bottom of a labyrinth while solving puzzles to progress. The game features layered secrets and mechanics that gradually change the gameplay.
The game was developed as a two-man collaboration between Eero Lahtinen and Antti Ukkola after completing their first game ZeroRanger in 2018. It was inspired by a variety of mostly Japanese series and games. The game had a largely positive reception.
Gameplay
Void Stranger is a two-dimensional sokoban-style puzzle video game with a monochromatic color palette and chiptune sounds. Players assume the role of a lone character who, after falling to the first floor of a dungeon, must make their way to its bottom. The dungeon has over 200 tile- and turn-based levels of increasing difficulty, with their main tool being a magical rod that can rearrange floor tiles. Falling in a pit or getting hit by an enemy causes the player to use one of the locust idols found in treasure chests throughout the game to save their life.[1][2] If the player is hit without any locust idols, they are given the choice to start from the beginning of the game or continue, albeit with infinite retries.[3] The initially simple gameplay gets increasingly complex as the game progresses and the player discovers new mechanics and secrets hidden in the labyrinth.[1][2]
Development and release
Void Stranger was created by independent Finnish video game developer System Erasure, a collaboration between Eero Lahtinen and Antti Ukkola. Void Stranger is the second game by the studio, which was founded in 2008 and published its first title, ZeroRanger, in 2018. Development started in 2019 and the game was publicly revealed in October 2020. It was released for Windows via Steam on 1 September 2023.[4][5]
The development of the game was started by Ukkola, who was the game's main programmer and the sole artist and writer, while Lahtinen still continued to update ZeroRanger after its launch. After some trial-and-error while exploring the GameMaker engine he discovered what would become the main gameplay mechanic of the game. He then chose a monochromatic color palette for its simplicity and practicality, and to keep the workload more manageable. The game's music, composed by Lahtinen, was designed with the game's puzzle genre in mind so that the player would not grow too irritated listening to the same song when stuck in a puzzle.[6]
The game was influenced by a variety of mainly Japanese series and games, with Antti Ukkola crediting cyberpunk series Battle Angel Alita, dark fantasy manga Berserk and Made in Abyss, the Finnish classic Moomins, and the 1991 roguelike Cave Noire as his main inspirations.[6]
Reception
The game had a largely positive reception, with critics directing praise toward its puzzle design, gradually changing gameplay, and soundtrack.[7][2][1][8]
Jordan Helm of Hardcore Gamer found the game's puzzles and unforgiving mechanics to be "not an easy endeavor", but nonetheless very rewarding. For him, however, the main appeals of the game were the layered reveals and secrets that gradually change the initially innocent-seeming gameplay, comparing one "incredible rug-pull" in particular to the main reveal of the 2016 puzzle game The Witness.[1] This sentiment was shared by PC Gamer's Dominic Tarason who found the gameplay "mesmerising" and praised the "fantastic" soundtrack.[2] Dia Lacina of Paste enjoyed the game's approach to dungeon crawling with fast and "blitzable" puzzles and found the game "as good as dungeon crawling gets".[7]
References
- ^ a b c d Helm, Jordan (11 September 2023). "Review: Void Stranger". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 9 February 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d Tarason, Dominic (9 September 2023). "A seemingly innocent puzzle game is hiding what might be the most subversive, fourth-wall-breaking adventure since Undertale". PC Gamer. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^
System Erasure (1 September 2023). Void Stranger (PC) (1.1.1 ed.). System Erasure. Level/area: You've Fallen Screen.
If you eat something here, you'll become a part of this realm. // Then you'll be able to roam these halls to your heart's content.
- ^ "Void Stranger Press Kit". System Erasure. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- ^ "System Erasure Press Kit". System Erasure. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- ^ a b Wescott, Adam (20 December 2023). "System Erasure's Antti and Eero Reveal the Origins of Their Games". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b Lacina, Dia. "Void Stranger Is the Only Dungeon Crawler I Want to Play". Paste. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ Van Allen, Eric (5 September 2023). "Void Stranger is a Sokoban-style puzzler with its fair share of mysteries". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.