Void Stranger Reviews

Go play Void Stranger. The less you know about it, the better. As someone who can identify as "an aspiring puzzle game player", Void Stranger is an all time classic from front to back, from the moment the game starts. As a brief background, I've tried tons of the modern greats. Stephen's Sausage Roll, Baba, Can Full of Wormholes, you name it. I usually get about 5 - 10hr in, find something that seems utterly impossible, feel dumb, and stay feeling dumb when I give up. System Erasure has somehow manged to give me the same "feel dumb" feeling, while also immediately following that moment up with a eureka moment for the last 29 hours, without fail, again and again and again and again. No title has made me exclaim "What the fuck?" so many different ways, so frequently, as Void Stranger has. Criminally underrated, but the small size has led to a very positive community, heavily dedicated to providing resources in spoiler free ways to new players in the event they ever get stuck. You owe it to yourself. Play Void Stranger. It's less than a fast food meal, for christ's sake.

There is nothing this game can be compared to. It is amazing but requires a lot of perseverance to go through.

This game is way bigger than you think it is, and 90% of it is block puzzles. If you don't like block puzzles, you're probably going to be miserable. The game is peak but only if you're able to derive enjoyment from repeatedly moving squares around for tens of hours (its more fun than that sounds I promise)

Incredibly underrated piece of art. Masterfully crafted game with tons of content, cleverly designed puzzles, game mechanics, great lore, OST, characters and... a very, very long, challenging and frustrating, but exciting adventure. It's one of those games that you should not judge by screenshots because they can't tell you what this game is in its nature. The less you know about it - the better. Place your faith and embrace the Void.

I love games that get a bit meta and you have to think outside of the box. However the narrative is far too loose, the plot payoffs are weak and the design of many puzzles are so obscure that you lose a bit of faith in the game design when/if you finally figure them out. Void stranger has a lot of merit, as you strip away layers of this onion, but it is exactly that, just an onion and your eyes will burn at the end for the enjoyment of eating...an onion.

This is one of those games that really rewards learning and creativity similar to Noita, Animal Well, Antechamber, or anything else that makes you suffer to improve. If you enjoy rage quitting and then immediately booting the game back up, this is a great choice for you.

Having put over 20 hours into this game, I got to the.. lets call it new game plus section, and a mix of strong emotions meant I didn't have the heart for the sudden jump in difficulty. Recently, I saw the video by John SuperEyepatchwolf, a man I've had the pleasure of meeting in real life, and I feel inspired to not only make an earnest attempt at finishing this game, but to recommend it to others. For my small part in promoting interest in this game, I have to wholly recommend it. It's (affectionately) a major headache of a puzzle game, it's imagery and atmosphere is foreboding and sinister, and you can feel the indie panache in every hour of gameplay. If you like a puzzler that will keep you guessing even as you enter familiar rooms, this will be for you. Please heed the content warnings, this game has some very heavy subject matter, and at times I was utterly disgusted. Truly, even in the months since I've played it, I never really forgot about it. It felt like a lingering regret to get so far and then stop. I will return to you soon Void Stranger.

Incredible puzzle game that I will never finish. The game has so many "layers" that reward discovery, curiosity and exploration. I have enjoyed most of my time with it including the frustrating moments. However, there is one puzzle that I found to be absolute garbage. I figured out "how" to do it, but the execution made no sense. After looking it up, I realized that I could have wasted 10 years of my life and still would not have been able to solve it. That moment made me quit the game and lose interest. However, you do not need to experience all of it to have fun and you can stop at any "ending" and call it a day. Overall, it is a really deep game with immense creativity, but it's not for people who are easily frustrated.

At about 20 hours in I knew I was going to have to recommend this game, but I wanted to wait until I was totally totally finished with playing it blind to go on about it. This is the best game I've played in years, but it is a hostile game that forces you to think critically and pay for your mistakes. You will have to repeat parts of the game, but if you adopt a mindset to be analytical and careful early on, you will start breezing through the levels you've done. No detail- no matter how subtle- is given to you for no reason, and it is up to you do with that information what you will. I can't say anything else about its game play that anyone here hasn't already told you: --Play it blind, with limited guidance. Take breaks if you're stuck, and spoil only when you absolutely cannot progress. --If you can, play it with a friend side by side, exchange clues and experiences, but try not to divulge progression unless you're absolutely stumped. It makes the game so much more fun. --Play it with an open mind, and pay attention to everything that happens, because seeing the bulk of the game depends on you being a critical thinker. --You will get frustrated, and your enjoyment of Void Stranger depends on how much you can enjoy that frustration knowing how good it will feel when you break through the obstacle you're stuck on. A game this meticulous and dense is backed up by extremely distinct pixel art cutscenes and a soundtrack that ranges in emotional tone from somber contemplations on mortality to hot blooded anime jams. I don't rave about many games, but this one's the real deal, it kicks ass.

I'm guessing a ton of people are going to be checking out this game after a recent video from a popular Youtuber. I'm here to say that, as good as Void Stranger is, System Erasure's other game, Zero Ranger is *even better*. You don't need to have any prior skill at shmups, it's very easy to get into. It is absolutely amazing, and I hope some people will head on over there too!