Android gaming - Stranger Things : The Game

Stranger Things : The Game is based on the popular Netflix series Stranger Things. If you don't know what Stranger Things is about, below is a quick primer from wikipedia

 Stranger Things is an American science fiction-horror web television series ...... Set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana,  in the 1980s, the first season focuses on the investigation into the  disappearance of a young boy amid supernatural events occurring around  the town including the appearance of a girl with psychokinetic abilities who helps the missing boy's friends in their own search. 

(Source : Wikipedia)

The game was developed by BonusXP and release in October 2017, with a minor update later with the release of season two of the Netflix show.

With the show being set in the 1980s, it is only natural that it's mobile game would adopt the pixel art reminiscent of the video games from that era. The game may look simple, but it has surprising depth for a mobile game.

The game takes place in the same town as the web series, and the events in the game supposedly picks up after the first season of the show. Nonetheless the game does take liberties with the narrative and characters and should not be considered canon to the show.

The gameplay is simple - tap on the area on the screen to make the character walk there, tap on objects to interact or pick them up, tap on enemies to attack them. You can switch between 8 characters on the fly - you start with Chief Hopper and unlock more characters as you progress. Each character has different skills and "weapons", some of which are key in certain stages and necessary to complete the game. You have a limited amount of health, and if you deplete them (due to enemy attacks or walking into hazardous items like lasers) you will restart at the previous checkpoint.

Left - right : Chief Hopper - Lucas - Nancy - Mike - Will - Dustin - Eleven - Max

There town's map is surprisingly large, and that's not counting the also sizeable interior "dungeons" of buildings where some missions are conducted in. For the most part, you won't find yourself short of places to explore and new locations to find.

This is just a small portion of the entire map of Hawkins

The main storyline of the game deals with the mysterious portals to the Upside-down realm opening up around Hawkins, which is presented in a linear series of missions going from location to location. 

However I was also surprised at how many side quests that are available in this small mobile game, from find a new phone for Will Myer's mom to searching for brake pads for the police car of one of Hopper's colleagues. There are also plenty of collectibles that upgrade the characters' abilities as well as increase your health count. Some of them are awarded upon completion of quests, some are hidden away in secluded sections in the maps. One of these collectibles are a bunch of gnomes that you need to search and collect one by one throughout the map!

All in all the game lasted me a good day and a half to attain even 85% completion, and that's already completed the main story missions.

I only have two nitpick with this game though: There are ALOT of walking in the game, and no indication on the map the name of the places you have already visited. If you are like me, you'd just as quickly forget the location of a house where you need to return to after completing a side quest. I've mentioned that the maps are HUGE, so be prepared to be spending alot of taps walking the characters around town.

Secondly, the characters are devoid of the personalities you have seen on the Netflix series, in fact it is as though they are not the same person from the live action counterpart. For example, they would gleefully walk into some poor sod's house and start bashing in their fridges to see if you can get some health or coins. Or, while taking a stroll on the streets, you can destroy the garbage bins, mailboxes and landscaping to see what drops. 

As if the trauma of losing her son to the Upside-Down is not enough, poor poor Mrs. Myers about to have her fridge destroyed by an oddly cheerful Hopper.

Some special abilities also boggles the mind, like Mike Wheeler's special skills is to ride is bike up a ramp and across the river, and Will Byer's attack is to stun enemies with his torchlight. WHAT?? Suffice to say it doesn't end there, play it for yourself to find out.

It is a fine game in it's own right, but it can lose the Stranger Things name and it might be better for it, without player's expectations for what the characters should be.

Now you'd expect me to say something along the line of "If you are a Stranger Things fan, you should play this game!!", but the truth is you should play this even if you know nothing about the show, especially if you are into that 80s nostalgia or just simply a fan of adventure games. It pays alot of homage to it's source material, but that is as far as it's similarities go.

The game is free and can be downloaded for android from here. 

Oh if you have not watch the show, I highly recommend that you watch it! Even if it's not your cup of tea, it certainly won't be the worst thing you'll watch.