The game draws inspiration from many sources, such as nordic mythology and the american drama television series Twin Peaks.

[1] The game follows the story of Stranger, a man who finds himself in an unfamiliar, fragmented world that resembles an abandoned carnival.

Eventually, Stranger manages to reach the top of a rollercoaster, where The Dark Thing is caged.

Freed, The Dark Thing knocks him off the rollercoaster and begins to methodically kill all other inhabitants of Strangeland, attacking them one by one.

On the tracks of the rollercoaster, Stranger is attacked by a giant crab; it is implied to be another form The Dark Thing took in order to stop him.

Once Stranger manages to break free, he finds himself on a floating island with both the woman and The Dark Thing.

During the final confrontation, the woman tries to inspire hope in Stranger, while The Dark Thing continues to try to break his resolve.

[3] Adventure Gamers praised the game’s writing: “Strangeland is smartly written, and its strongest aspect is how it uses real-world concepts as physical manifestations to create a compelling enigma”.

[4] Strangeland won three of the site’s Reader’s Choice awards for Best Story,[5] Best Setting[6] and Best Writing (Drama).

[7] In 2022, it won four Adventure Game Studio awards: Best Character Art, Best Puzzles, Best Voice Over and Best Programming.