Platform: PC (version reviewed)
Genre: 2D puzzle game with monochrome graphics & many, many, MANY layers

Upon first glance from the Steam page and its oblique description, Void Stranger is a 2D puzzle game. You control a woman named Gray as she delves deep through many, many dungeons with a “void wand” in hand. Your objective is to reach the exit on each level, usually with their own level design gimmick. These involve pushing blocks onto switches, avoiding enemies with different movement patterns, stealing panel floors using your “void wand” and then filling up holes with that same panel, and so forth.

All this comes with a monochrome pixel art aesthetic (think Game Boy Color era) and an alluring soundtrack that mixes chiptunes and synth. Seems standard fare for an indie game, doesn’t it?

It isn’t. See, this game is made by indie studio System Erasure, whose claim to underground fame is the 2D shmup Zero Ranger. I’ve played the previous game and was surprised with its many twists and turns while making a quality shmup worthy of its genre.

Void Stranger is no different, and will surprise you with its plethora of secrets once you’ve spent a few hours with it. It’s also a tough puzzle game however, even by design.

Dark Tidings

See, the many puzzle levels have tricky solutions that may take a while to figure out and rival even the most hardcore of “sokoban” games (a genre Void Stranger is inspired from). You cannot undo your moves step by step; you have to restart the puzzle segment if you flub up once. You cannot reset your progress from the get-go, which means you cannot revisit levels once you’ve progressed forward. The game also has this quirk where if you decide to rest at what seems to be a save point, it shuts off. Don’t panic; just start the game and you’ll go to a story segment before braving the deep once again.

After 8 or so hours of clearing the 200+ levels, you end up with your first run ending. And believe me when I say that this is the tip of the Void-iceberg. Void Stranger requires you to replay its segments and find its many, many secrets to uncover its true nature. And when you’re done with that, you will unlock an even more difficult mode of the game which has its own conclusion. And then another few modes.

Believe me when I say that you will need your screenshot button handy, because you’ll be taking down LOTS of notes for your second playthrough.

You’ll then see the appeal of Void Stranger’s difficulty and why it’s tailored in a way that encourages diligence and discovery from players. The secrets you unlock will help ease up your subsequent playthroughs. You will unlock items and power-ups (in the form of Brands before your run) that will make the puzzle gameplay a lot more manageable, even in its Hard mode.

You can unlock shortcuts that let you skip tons of levels to get deeper to the void faster than usual. You can interact with strangers within the void and even talk to previously-silent objects to find out secrets and the game’s deep lore. If you take your time with Void Stranger, it will reward you in return. Think of your experience like you would playing an old-school 90s/2000s game where half the fun is discovering surprises for yourself.

That said, most of the game’s puzzles and secrets can be oblique and do require a lot of backtracking as you replay the game more and more. At the very least, you can reset your run in-game once it tells you after your first run. And you can use fourth wall-breaking methods to change up your HUD using your “void wand”.

I’ve already said too much here, so I’ll stop. I’ll say this though: its moody atmosphere, narrative, music, and turn-based format mean you’re not under any pressure to blaze through the game.

Deep Down

Void Stranger is unapproachable at first glance, even after an hour or so of playing it. It has no convenient undo option, and once you “accidentally” go forward a stage, there’s no way to go back unless you restart your run. And if you end up afflicting Gray with “Void” option, you end up seeing the entire 200+ levels to the end, with the conclusion being anything but satisfactory.

But if you stick with it long enough, 20 to 30 hours give or take, Void Stranger will deliver an immaculate experience unlike anything on tap this year. You need to play by its rules and also bend/break them in the process. The going is tough, but the tough gets going. Void Stranger will make you as hardy as they come.

Besides, the game did state that if you’re stuck, “ask a friend”. I know I did. Multiple times. There’s no shame in this, especially if you want to see the entirety of what Studio Erasure offer in its 2023 offering. It’s worth the trials and tribulations.

Pros

• In-depth narrative that requires hours to unravel until its satisfying conclusion.
• Amazing-slash-moody atmosphere and pixel art.
• The most challenging 2D puzzles you’ll face in your lifetime.
• Brilliant soundtrack

Cons

• Obtuse in design and really tough.
• Old-school approach may turn players off for the first playthrough.

Final Score: 90/100