Only real '80s kids will get this, but developer Infamous Quests just released a short tribute adventure game demo based on the nostalgia-driven Netflix series, Stranger Things. The scene takes place in episode one, and you play as police chief Jim Hopper leading a search party for Will Byers in the spooky Indiana woods. Now, it's not an officially sanctioned game, so don't get too excited for more, but it feels like it could be—the pixelated style slots right into the faithful '80s setting the show shoots for. I'm tempted to copy it to a floppy or set up a Windows 3.1 virtual machine to complete the illusion.
The demo isn't massive and you can get through it in 10 minutes or so without much trouble, but the more might be on the way. After reaching out to Infamous Quests, programmer and writer on the project Steven Alexander told me, "We would love to develop a full fledged game." He continued, "I have a design document outline I started right after my first viewing."
And It sounds like the early work for a full game is already in place. "I have screenshots, sketches, concept art of locations and how they'd relate to a game, and a list of locations in Hawkins, Indiana, etc."
Of course, doing a complete adventure game tribute to Stranger Things won't come without problems. Design-wise, some of the action scenes might not translate to pointing-and-clicking too well, and it's commonplace for fan projects to get the legal axe regardless of free access and high quality.
Novel as it is, I don't think I'd want to see a complete Stranger Things game created in this style—game design has come such a long way and I'm not sure I could stomach clicking through the endless screaming bouts between the kids—but as a fun diversion and an excuse to dip back into the weird fictional world of Hawkins, Indiana, it's great.
