sangsara.net

In the last couple of days, I’ve fallen for a game which bears more than a passing resemblance in setting to a little show called ‘Lost’. Just in case you didn’t see it, the makers decided to go with the name ‘Stranded’.

I’ve yet to come across a monster, but there have been allusions to something strange going on, and it can’t be far off. What makes this game fun is a combination of portable pick-up-and-play design, and a sense of open-endedness.

It’s an adventure game with quests to fulfill, but you could just spend all your time hunting chickens and fishing , if you wanted. Or collecting seashells and driftwood. Or cooking. Or planting seeds, cutting down trees, and trading goods. It’s a sort of Animal Crossing + Contact. It’s a hell of a lot of gameplay stuffed into a mobile game.

The time of day in the game matches real time (from your phone), and that affects how many snakes are out and about, what kind of fish you’ll catch, and so on. And just like you’d expect from a portable game, saving is allowed at any time. Here’s the official site, and in a great move, they’ve put up an emulated demo of the game here, so you can try before you buy.