History VideoGame / Strangeland

* EasterEgg: Writing [[spoiler:Abe Goldfarb, the name of the stranger's voice actor]] or [[spoiler:Horus, the true name of the protagonist of Wormwood's previous game ''VideoGame/{{Primordia}}'']] in [[spoiler:a guest register]] instead of the correct answer will lead to unique responses.

* LosingYourHead: After a certain point, the stranger [[spoiler:reaches an even ''darker'' world called Deadland]], and is separated from his own head. It turns out he's capable of functioning without it, but is unable to communicate with the world, so reuniting with it is a priority.

* MonsterClown: The entrance to Strangeland is a giant clown's head that tells cruel jokes at the stranger's expense.

*** The being in the furnace, Eight-Three, is named after the dwarf craftsman Eitri. [[spoiler:The latter is made explicit when Outside-Rotta reveals that Eight-Three's original self was Eitri, one of the three men responsible for the Streammaid's current fate.]]

* AmusementParkOfDoom: The game refers to the titular Strangeland as a carnival, with pitched circus tents, flashing signs, midway rides, and other attractions. You enter through the mouth of a giant MonsterClown.

*** The stranger has a similar hair and facial structure to the Nameless One, minus the scars. The ghostly woman, in addition to resembling TheLostLenore Beatrice of ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', sets up a similar trio to Deionarra, the Nameless One, and the Transcendent One, with the Dark Thing standing in for the shadows which [[SternChase pursue you throughout the game]].

-->'''Clown:''' I don't wanna tell you a joke. I don't wanna tell you anything at all. But you know the problem with me? [[{{Pun}} I never could keep my big mouth shut]]! [[AnnoyingLaugh Gaheeheehaw!]]

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: A possible [[AnAesop Aesop]] in one of the MultipleEndings: [[spoiler:Such darkness within you requires that there must be some light to cast it -- if you cannot see it yourself, that is because the light is yourself, the light you are to those who love you.]]

* BigCreepyCrawlies: The stranger finds, and later ''rides'', a giant albino seventeen-year cicada to the very bottom of the roots of the tree at the bottom of the well. [[spoiler:In Deadland, it saves the stranger from the {{Bottomless Pit|s}} at the bottom of the well instead, and gives a RousingSpeech, telling that despite the brevity and pain of life, it is worth it. Cicadas live in darkness for seventeen years only to emerge for a few weeks of frenzied life and love, after all.]]

** Nineveh was the ancient capital of Assyria before it was sacked. Among other mentions, it was one of the places where the prophet Jonah was commanded. When Jonah refused, he was swallowed by a whale or great fish. [[spoiler:Nineveh is the true name of the half-fish Streammaid.]]

* MedicalHorror: The game drops several hints that the real woman died of medical complications, from the long list of seemingly random words spouted by the raven in the park to the fate of the Streammaid, sewn back together wrong by cruel and incompetent doctors.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Several puzzles have alternate solutions which allow the stranger the choice of whether to be crueler or [[[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential kinder]]. You only need five spirits of the dead to relight the spirit lamps [[spoiler:of the Valkyrie's engine after it is destroyed by the Dark Thing]], for example. In doing so you are shown to have interrupted the peace some of those beings found in death, and there is no benefit to gathering more -- other than an achievement unlock for having all possible spirits collected at the same time before putting them to work.

** To ''VideoGame/DarkSeed 1'' and ''2'' and ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}'', among others. A dark carnival is prominently features prominently ''Sanitarium''[='s=] "Circus of Fools" chapter and is a central location in the latter ''Dark Seed''. You can also catch occasional glimpses of a [[DarkWorld dark(-er) world]] of the dead while using the torch to capture spirits, the art style of which is heavily influenced by the art of Creator/HRGiger, with its hideously organic monochrome shapes, which both ''Dark Seed''s licensed for their background art. [[spoiler:The second half of the game takes place in that dark world, Deadland.]] Writer Mark Yohalem said he wasn't consciously inspired by ''Sanitarium''[='s=] carnival level (he remembered the other levels more clearly), and that it was artist Victor Pflug's idea to shift from the gothic mansion Yohalem originally envisioned -- but that the comparison was inevitable, and flattering to the devs.

** To ''VideoGame/DarkSeed 1'' and ''2'' and ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}'', among others. ''Sanitarium''[='s=] "Circus of Fools" and the latter ''Dark Seed'', a dark carnival is prominently featured. You can also catch occasional glimpses of a [[DarkWorld dark(-er) world]] of the dead while using the torch to capture spirits, the art style of which is heavily influenced by the art of Creator/HRGiger, with its hideously organic monochrome shapes. [[spoiler:The second half of the game takes place in that dark world, Deadland.]] Writer Mark Yohalem said he wasn't consciously inspired by ''Sanitarium''[='s=] carnival level (he remembered the other levels more clearly), and that it was artist Victor Pflug's idea to shift from the gothic mansion Yohalem originally envisioned -- but that the comparison was inevitable, and flattering to the devs.

** A man with memory problems searches for the woman he loves, only to keep watching a version of her die, accompanied by a strain of MedicalHorror. [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 James Sunderland]] might never might not have entered ''VideoGame/SilentHill''[='s=] Lakeside Amusement Park, but it appears prominently in several of the game's other entries.

* MeaningfulName: Every name or nickname has a deeper symbolic meaning. The old sage in the park gives his name as Fimbul Fambi, Old Norse for "mighty fool".

** A man with memory problems searches for the woman he loves, only to keep watching a version of her die, accompanied by a strain of MedicalHorror. [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 James Sunderland]] might never might not have entered ''VideoGame/Silent''[='s=] Lakeside Amusement Park, but it appears prominently in several of the game's other entries.

* CreepyCrows: The stranger encounters two talking Ravens in his journey. The first gives him information about Strangeland, the second only speaks to an old man who writes down everything it says.

** To ''VideoGame/DarkSeed 1'' and ''2'' and ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}'', among others. Like both games, a dark carnival is prominently featured. You can also catch occasional glimpses of a [[DarkWorld dark(-er) world]] of the dead while using the torch to capture spirits, the art style of which is heavily influenced by the art of Creator/HRGiger, with its hideous, monochrome organic shapes. [[spoiler:The second half of the game takes place in that dark world, Deadland.]] Writer Mark Yohalem said he wasn't consciously inspired by ''Sanitarium''[='s=] carnival level (he remembered the other levels more clearly), and that it was artist Victor Pflug's idea to shift from the gothic mansion Yohalem originally envisioned -- but that the comparison was inevitable, and flattering to the devs.

* MesACrowd: Once the stranger [[spoiler:reaches Deadland]], he finds quite a few things with faces that look exactly like his own, such as an old man, ravens, and entryways. [[spoiler:This culminates in meeting a trio of doppelgangers, with one appearing younger than himself, and one older.]]

** Gershom, [[spoiler:the version of you who replaces Fimbul Fambi under the tree in Deadland]], is named after the firstborn son of Moses. In Hebrew, Gershom means "a sojourner there" -- alternatively, "a ''stranger'' there".

* BigCreepyCrawlies: You can find, and ride, a giant albino seventeen-year cicada to the very bottom of the roots of the tree at the bottom of the well. [[spoiler:In Deadland, it saves you from the {{Bottomless Pit|s}} at the bottom of the well instead, and gives you a RousingSpeech, telling you that despite the brevity and pain of life, it is worth it. Cicadas live in darkness for seventeen years only to emerge for a few weeks of frenzied life and love, after all.]]

* EnemyWithin: [[spoiler:The Dark Thing, the BigBad which is killing the woman over and over again, is simply the manifestation of your own depression, guilt, and self-loathing, which has dogged you all through your life. In a very literal sense, you are your own worst enemy, creating your own demons and pitting yourself against them. You even let the Dark Thing out of its cage, and, it is implied, drove yourself to forget all this, causing the (metaphorical -- or is it?) amnesia that has led you to repeat the cycle anew.]]
* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: In-universe. Various characters pointedly note the heavy symbolism that surrounds you, including themselves. Specifically, everyone is you, despite the masks they wear, and all this is taking place inside your own head, [[spoiler:using metaphor and allusion to try and process your own pain, but only succeeding in concealing it, living it out again in a hundred different ways]].

* GreekChorus: Invoked by the Masquettes, three women wearing grotesque giant masks in the form of old men. They claim to be the peanut gallery and chorus of your story.
* GroundhogDayLoop: The end of the game implies that the stranger has been undergoing more than a ResurrectionDeathLoop, as [[spoiler:his shadow brings up "jamais-vu", the opposite of deja vu -- rather than something you've never done that seems familiar, you've been through all this many times but cannot remember it at all]].

* TheKillerInMe: [[spoiler:It's suggested at one point that you may actually be Alberich, who along with Eitri and Rotta were responsible for turning Nineveh into the monstrous Streammaid -- but in the same breath it's suggested that it may just be symbolism for the stranger's own sense of guilt over the death of the woman, projecting blame on the doctors who couldn't save her and himself.]]

* GiantEnemyCrab: The Dark Thing takes the form of a giant black cloud/crab when you battle it above the roller coast tracks. [[spoiler:This is not its true or final form, however.]]

*** After one trick too many, TricksterGod Loki is bound in a cave awaiting Ragnarok, where a snake drips venom on him -- his wife catches the venom in a bowl, but when she must leave to empty it, the venom drips in his eyes. [[spoiler:In Deadland, the blind scribe Gershom sits under a tree as a snake drips venom on his shoulder -- having already lost his eyes. The stranger can try to help by catching the venom in an empty bottle -- but because Gershom isn't bound but merely indifferent to leaving, it seems a great deal more futile.]]

* KnifeNut: You can receive [[RuleOfThree three]] knives over the course of the game, serving as your primary weapon: Beak, Tooth, and an unnamed third. [[spoiler:The Dark Thing notes that it "always comes back to the knife" with you.]] There's an achievement called "Always Come Back to the Knife" for [[spoiler:giving up and stabbing yourself in the throat at the very end of the game, thus starting the whole cycle over again]].

*** The prize for winning the shooting gallery the first time is Nepenthe™, a drug of forgetfulness.
*** The three masked women outside the Valkyrie claim to be the GreekChorus of the game and refer to themselves as strophe, antistrophe, and epode, the three parts of a Grecian ode.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: In-universe. Various characters pointedly note the heavy symbolism that surrounds you, including themselves. Specifically, everyone is you, despite the masks they wear, and all this is taking place inside your own head.

*** Fimbul Fambi is Old Norse for "great fool".

** [[spoiler:Gershom, the version of you who replaces Fimbul Fambi under the tree, is named after the firstborn son of Moses. In Hebrew, Gershom means "a sojourner there" -- alternatively, "a ''stranger'' there".]]

* EasterEgg: Writing [[spoiler:Abe Goldfarb]] or [[spoiler:Horus]] in [[spoiler:a guest register]] instead of the correct answer will lead to unique responses.
* GroundhogDayLoop: The end of the game implies that the stranger has been undergoing more than a ResurrectionDeathLoop, as [[spoiler:his shadow brings up "jamais-vu" and how they've actually been through this before]].

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: There are a multitude of ways to die ([[ResurrectionDeathLoop and come back]]) in this game, to the point that the UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} version has an achievement for finding them all.

* Myth/NorseMythology: Many of the side characters have names in reference to Norse beings. The credits name the ravens as Huginn and Muginn, and the being in the furnace, Eight-Three, is based on the dwarf craftsman Eitre. [[spoiler:The latter is more clear in Deadland, where the name Eitre is actually used for Eight-Three's other self.]]

* ResurrectionDeathLoop: Every time the stranger dies, he just wakes up in front of the Strangeland carnival again.
* ShoutOut:

* TarotMotifs: Towards the climax of [[spoiler:Deadland]], the stranger must associate three [=NPCs=] with different tarot cards in order to get past them.

* TaritMotif: Towards the climax of [[spoiler:Deadland]], the stranger must associate three [=NPCs=] with different tarot cards in order to get past them.

* MesACrowd: Once the stranger [[spoiler:reaches Deadland]], he finds quite a few things with faces that look exactly like his own, such as an old man, ravens, and entryways.

''Strangeland'' is a [[PointAndClickGame Point-and-Click]] {{Horror|VideoGames}} AdventureGame, developed by Wormwood Studios (developers of ''VideoGame/{{Primordia}}'') and published by Creator/WadjetEyeGames on May 25th 2021.

* MesACrowd: Once the stranger [[spoiler:reached Deadland]], he finds quite a few things with faces that look exactly like his own, such as an old man, ravens, and entryways.

''Strangeland'' is a [[PointAndClickGame Point-and-Click]] {{Horror|VideoGames}} AdventureGame, developed by Creator/WormwoodStudios (developers of ''VideoGame/{{Primordia}}'') and published by Creator/WadjetEyeGames on May 25th 2021.

* ShoutOut: The close-up shot of [[https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1369520/ss_b177fa1b7e4af18a233358f6682b2fb7d2ecfb24.1920x1080.jpg?t=1622328924 the stranger talking on the payphone]] is a [[https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.w4H84U6m0vT_CXXtIALIJQHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1 visual reference]] to ''Film/PhoneBooth''.