Void Stranger

Void Stranger is a sokoban-like game set in a seemingly endless dungeon, brimming with mysteries. Navigating the dungeon floors requires careful routing around obstacles and enemies on small-sized grids. The game blends uncompromising puzzle design and intricate secrets, in a mix which is bound to subvert expectations.

The usual sokoban formula relies on pushing obstacles on a 2D grid in order to clear the way to the level exit. While it sometimes follows this convention, Void Stranger quickly introduces its own defining mechanic: the ability to swap tiles across the grid. The grid itself is made up of solid tiles, which your character can walk on, and holes, which will result in a fall. Equipped with the Void Rod and facing a solid tile, you may remove it from the floor, and then reposition it on top of any hole you can reach. As such, most levels involve designing and building your own path towards the exit.

Making your way across the rooms also requires avoiding a number of hostile dungeon creatures. Each creature has a precise movement pattern, like snakes moving back and forth on a simple line, or bulls rushing in one straight direction once you’ve crossed their line of sight. Be careful of their turn-based behavior: for every action you input, they will move by one tile on the grid! The dungeon itself is segmented into different domains, with each domain focusing on certain enemies and calling for renewed routing strategies.

In par with its tight mechanics and its grayscale palette, playing Void Stranger can occasionally turn into a harsh experience. The game features no undo option, so you often need to visualize several steps ahead to make sure enemies won’t corner you. There’s no standard level selection either, so you’ll remain in the same room as long as it takes for you to clear it. Patience and anticipation are essential for progress.

From the start, Void Stranger has a way to convey that something is wrong about the pit your character is roaming. Indeed, the depths of the Void hide knowledge and tools which, with enough determination, can recontextualize many rooms, and bring the sokoban procession closer to dungeon-crawling gameplay. Uncovering some of these mysteries involves dealing with a permadeath mechanic. Other secrets are dependent upon highly concealed world interactions.

Aside from the puzzles, the game also stages a covert yet sprawling fantasy story, which is mainly told through ambiguous cutscenes and bizarre NPCs. This fragmented narrative is delivered with art and music leaning on retro inspirations. The atmosphere combines a feeling of adventure and a definite moodiness, with genre-bending moments remindful of offbeat titles like Undertale.

This description was written by Oriane Tury.