Void Stranger (Steam, itch.io) is the latest game from Finnish duo System Erasure, previously known for the shoot-em-up Zero Ranger. This gameboy-lookin' puzzle game has been the subject of hushed whispers behind increasingly-esoteric spoiler warnings in the dim corners of this website and others, which naturally makes it difficult to know really what the discussion is all about. It's my game of the year, but maybe you're wondering if it'll resonate with you the same way it did for me and others. I can't answer that for sure, but maybe I can help.
Void Stranger is a game about mystery.
At any moment, your experience of Void Stranger is defined largely by two things:
- How much you don't know.
- How much the characters don't know.
And the thing is, you'll never be quite sure what exactly these two quantities are at any given time. This does mean that the game is spoiler-sensitive in a way that makes writing about it difficult! But you probably knew that already, and if that's enough to have sold you on the game, I suspect you'd have gone for it by now. So if you're still reading, let me, for a brief moment, warn you about some things that may turn you off the game.
- This really is a Sokoban-style puzzle game. While I've seen some people say they loved Void Stranger despite not being a fan of Sokoban-style puzzles, it seems to me that if you'd want to just get through the puzzles to see "the good parts" you're more likely to feel burned by the whole thing. In my view, a Sokoban disliker expecting to enjoy this game for the stuff in between the tile puzzles is akin to a cake disliker expecting to enjoy a layer cake because the layers are stacked in an interesting way.
- As I just mentioned, you are going to know very little at the start of your playthrough and revelations will often be hard-won. You will be aware of the fact that you know little, and yet, there will be times where you honest-to-God believe the game is being unreasonable, that it is asking too much of you, that there's no way a game like this could be so enjoyed by so many people you normally agree with. Some may find themselves wanting to post that Void Stranger uses "outdated design tropes"; that it is "disrespectful of the player's time"; that, indeed, you wish you could just get to "the good parts" - if you still have faith that they exist.
If this sounds bad for you, if I would gently advise caution and maybe even recommend against this game for you. It really isn't a "git gud" thing, I promise. Void Stranger isn't that kind of game. But it can seem that way at times! It's the kind of game where the most important thing is that you always stay curious, keep your wits about you, and never stop asking questions. If you feel you get easily frustrated and stressed to the point where it hampers your ability to do these things, you might have a bad time. Then again, you might not! You wouldn't be the only one who found themselves rethinking what exactly it is they value in game design and storytelling.
From this point forward, I'll talk about the basic mechanics and some general broad strokes of my experience with Void Stranger. I'm intentionally staying spoiler-light, but if you want to go in knowing absolutely nothing, this may be more than you want to read.
Void Stranger is a Sokoban-style puzzle game.
But there's honestly not a whole lot of block-pushing. Your main tool for interacting with the world is a strange rod. With a simple swing of the scepter, you can pick up and store the floor tile in front of you. Face an empty space somewhere else and swing the rod again, and you'll drop the stored floor tile in the space in front of you, filling it and giving you a path forward. Keep renovating the floor in this way and you'll be able to reach the exit staircase, descending to the next level of the dungeon. Naturally, the game will introduce several obstacles, traps, dangers, and even a dilemma or two to complicate your progress - but that's the main mechanic.
The amount of interesting puzzle design System Erasure managed to squeeze out of such a simple mechanic is impressive. Much of the challenge depends on the simple fact that you can't turn in place; in order to turn, you must take a step. There's a lot of "I can get to where I need to be, but how can I get there while facing the way I need to?", which is the kind of puzzle mechanic that is absolutely delicious to me. Thankfully, every additional puzzle element interacts with your ability to reshape the floor in new and confounding ways, and none of them feel "external" to the simple puzzle design.
Void Stranger is a stubborn housecat.
Void Stranger is a game that refuses to be approached in any other way than the way it finds acceptable. If you insist on approaching the game the way you think it should be approached, it will swat your hand away, claws and all, just when you thought it was about to roll over and start purring. You'll want to put down the game for a bit as you find some bandages. This game, frankly, hurt to play sometimes. But keep exploring, keep living with the game and attuning yourself to the way it works, and maybe, just maybe, you'll get in some ear scritches...
Void Stranger is a cursed artifact to study and understand.
At times, it felt like I wasn't playing a game so much as I was locking myself in my old-timey study, staring down at the lamp-lit Void Stranger on my desk through bifocal glasses as I scribbled down notes about discoveries, experiments, behaviors, and things I intended to try out. I kept a folder of text documents and screenshots of everything I thought I would ever possibly want to refer back to. And I'm glad I did! I would advise you to do the same. Give yourself the data you need to synthesize into something approaching the truth.
Void Stranger is a game about faith.
And not the religious kind, at least not entirely. It takes faith to throw yourself into the Void, both for the main character and for you, the player. There's no guarantee you, I, or anyone else will find what they're looking for in this place. The story is a long string of flawed people placing their faith in things they don't understand, and the sometimes-painful, sometimes-beautiful consequences that result. My experience in the Void mirrored theirs.
What may not be obvious is that, in all these cases, the faith goes both ways. Void Stranger knows you can succeed, and doesn't condescend or talk down to you. Everything important can be found, in multiple ways even, as long as you can still hold on to the sense that something is wrong.
Void Stranger is a Metroidvania where the items you find are knowledge.
It's impossible for me to truly play this game from the start ever again. I could erase my "physical" save file over and over again but I can't erase the time I've already spent in the Void. I am permanently overpowered with respect to Void Stranger because I had to be. I had to make this game an eternal part of my brain in order to see the end. And the funny thing is, I didn't realize what it was doing to me until there was no turning back. As a consolation, it is so good to watch other people play the game and read what they have to say about it, knowing everything I do now.
Void Stranger is a game about love.
This game hit me hard when my guard was down. I don't usually get very emotionally invested in game stories, but Void Stranger did it to me. No small part of the reason I pursued the truth of this game so relentlessly for so long is because I needed these little pixel people to be okay, in spite of everything.
Void Stranger's music kicks ass.
Bangers only.
Void Stranger is a game about living with your choices.
There is no undo button, and opportunities to reset a room are limited. If nothing else, this is the #1 advice I'd give to you, prospective Stranger: You are going to make choices that you will regret. You are going to make choices you didn't intend to, under circumstances you may not understand. So did every one of Void Stranger's characters, and so did everyone who spent more than a couple hours playing the game. Resist the urge to despair about it. Push forward. You are not going to see everything right away, maybe not ever. And that's okay. Let your experience be yours.