Wormwood Games, which developed “Primordia”, recently teamed up with publisher Wadjet Eye Games to bring its title “Strangeland” to Nintendo Switch. Although this game was first launched on the PC platform in 2021, with the official launch of the Switch version, it unexpectedly attracted the attention of a large number of players. The reason is simple, because this game is so weird. .
According to Nintendo Life, the overall visual style of “Strangeland” is obviously influenced by the famous alien design master H.R. Giger. The entire world is full of weird creatures, twisted buildings and an unsettling atmosphere. The media even compared it to the classic horror adventure game “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”.
It looks like a nightmare, but you can’t help but keep watching!
Judging from the public trailer, “Strangeland” does not rely on jump scares to scare people, but constantly shocks players’ senses through a large number of surreal scenes. The game adopts traditional point-and-click adventure gameplay, and players will explore the truth in a world full of mysteries and strange residents. Although the picture is presented in a pixel style, the overall art design has a charm that makes people feel more and more uncomfortable as they look at it.
Nintendo Life even admitted that this game was not on their radar at all, but they were immediately attracted to it after watching the promotional video for the Switch version. After all, the game market is now full of various open worlds and action RPGs. Weird works like “Strangeland” that do not intend to please everyone are becoming increasingly rare.
A five-hour process, but the point is never the length
According to the official introduction, the process of “Strangeland” takes about five hours, but the game has different choices, different puzzle solving methods, and multiple ending designs, so it has a certain replay value. The development team also emphasized that the screen resolution of this game reaches 640×360, which is twice that of “Primordia” back then.
For many independent gamers, the most attractive thing may not be the length of the game, but the pure creator style that is increasingly rare. After all, in this era where everything depends on data and market positioning, seeing a work that dares to look so weird is already a feature in itself.
Strangeness may be the biggest selling point
Interestingly, the focus of current community discussions is almost not on the gameplay, but on the painting style itself. Many players had surprisingly unanimous reactions after watching the trailer, probably “I don’t know what I saw”, but at the same time they felt a little bit eager to play. To some extent, this may also be the most successful part of “Strangeland”. Because when a game can make players start to wonder what the developer did after watching it for the first time, but can’t help but replay the trailer a second time, it has obviously achieved its purpose.