Strangeland

I guess with a typical point-and-click you can break it down into three elements: the puzzles, the story and the presentation. In terms of the story here there's not much I can go into, since discussing any of it would be to spoil it.
It's well-written and interesting enough, but it will either be profound or ho-hum depending on whether you have spent much time contemplating life and mortality. A worthy effort on the one hand, and on the other it's a case of the emperors new clothes. It doesn't have anything original to say, yet it speaks more eloquently than most.
When it comes to the puzzles it's a pleasant challenge, with logical enough solutions and just the right amount of hints to solve the trickier parts. A couple of them are cheeky uses of word-play, but they're still on the right side of being clever and worthy of a chuckle when you figure out just how literal the answer is.
I didn't need a guide at all to finish it, and from my perspective that's the best kind of point-and-click. That is subjective of course, depending on whether you're smarter or stupider than me you may find it harder or easier to solve. There aren't the infuriating puzzles of some point-and-clicks, and it avoids the unholy trinity.
1) There's no "goat puzzle" from the likes of Broken Sword, where you have to click on something over and over again until you get a reaction. So that's good. If it didn't work on the first ten times then why would you bother doing it twenty more on the off-chance that something changes?
2) It doesn't have flipping musical puzzles where you get played a tune and then have to crank it out on a musical instrument by ear. So that's nice. Not all of us can recognise a key, or then play X amounts notes within a time limit from memory. I'm looking at you Lamplight City!
3) It doesn't have the kind of overly "so smart" puzzles where even a brainiac like Stephen Hawkins (before he died, obviously) would get bewildered by them. Where you go from a solution like: stick a power plug on a power cable, and hey presto! You can now plug in a device to a power socket and use it. To: what is 99 trillion times the square-root of 56 bazillion gazillion?
I think this is one of the fairer and better judged examples in the genre, and I say that as someone of average intelligence. Albeit at the cost of a shorter run-time because it doesn't have Mensa level puzzles to stump you for ages, or those with solutions only obvious to a lunatic. You might not get as many hours out of the game compared to some, but what is here is enjoyable and allied to a thoughtful, lyrical narrative that makes up for it.
When it comes to the presentation this has great design, with decently detailed graphics full of grim and grotesque "charm". The voice-acting is also of a high standard. Unless the cost-to-time ratio bothers you, or you are a deep philosophical thinker that has already made their own conclusions about life and death, then this is a pretty good experience.

So that's a nice point and click that is reminicent of the old school style point and click, from the aesthetic to the gameplay.
But I was pleasantly surprised to witness that puzzles made sense and were quite fun !
The atmosphere is really good and pulls you into the game easily. The music reminded me of Silent Hill and did well with the dark graphical ambiance.
The art was amazing, especially for the environment. But also the symbolism within the game impressed me, it have been well researched !
It is a short game and you can finish it in 6 to 8 hours, but for me it was exactly what I wanted.
The game is fully voiced, and have translated subs.
I would not say that this is a game for everyone as it is about dark themes (don't want to spoil there), but if you are not bothered by it, give it a try !

Strangeland, developed by Wormwood Studios and published by Wadjet Eye Games, is a haunting and poetic descent into a surreal world of grief, memory, and psychological torment. At its surface, it appears to be a traditional point-and-click adventure game, but beneath that lies something far more intimate and unsettling. It begins abruptly with the player awakening in a nightmarish carnival—an otherworldly place that feels more like a reflection of a fractured mind than a real location. A woman leaps into a bottomless pit, a giant clown head looms as an entrance to deeper horrors, and the protagonist, known only as the Stranger, must piece together who he is and why he is trapped in this grotesque landscape. The experience is both deeply personal and universally haunting, touching on themes of loss, guilt, and the search for redemption through a dreamlike lens.
Visually, Strangeland is a triumph of pixel art and atmosphere. The game’s world is painted in shades of darkness and gold, evoking a balance between decay and the faint glimmer of hope. Every frame feels alive with symbolism—rusted carnival rides, flickering lights, and twisted mechanical creatures that seem to breathe and whisper in the shadows. Wormwood Studios’ attention to detail creates a landscape that is both repulsive and mesmerizing. It’s not a world you want to live in, but one that is impossible to look away from. The visual language here is deliberately surreal; nothing is as it seems, yet everything feels metaphorically charged. The world feels handcrafted not just as a setting for puzzles, but as a psychological portrait—a living metaphor for internal pain and unresolved trauma.
The audio design enhances this eerie immersion with impeccable precision. The soundtrack hums with a low, melancholic energy that feels more like an emotional pulse than background music. The voice acting—subtle, weary, and human—adds a sense of realism that contrasts beautifully with the nightmare imagery. The Stranger’s voice, heavy with doubt and sorrow, guides the player through his descent, while the distorted voices of the world’s inhabitants oscillate between cruelty, mockery, and reluctant wisdom. Every sound in Strangeland contributes to its oppressive mood: the creaking of decayed machinery, the echo of empty halls, the distant cries that may or may not be real. It’s a soundscape that burrows under the skin and lingers long after the screen fades to black.
As an adventure game, Strangeland stays true to the mechanics that define the genre while introducing small but meaningful innovations. You’ll gather items, solve puzzles, and engage in dialogue, but the design never feels archaic or overly punishing. The puzzles flow naturally from the logic of the world, often offering multiple solutions that align with your interpretation of events. The inclusion of a built-in hint system—symbolized as a payphone that the Stranger can call for advice—feels organic rather than intrusive. It keeps the pacing smooth without diminishing the player’s sense of discovery. What makes Strangeland stand apart is how its puzzles are woven seamlessly into the narrative fabric. Solving a puzzle doesn’t just open a door; it pushes the story forward, often forcing the player to confront uncomfortable truths about the protagonist’s past and his self-inflicted imprisonment.
The narrative is the true heart of Strangeland. Rather than delivering exposition or a straightforward plot, it builds its meaning through imagery, repetition, and implication. The carnival is not a literal place but a representation of the protagonist’s psyche—a liminal space between life and death where he must confront his guilt over an unspeakable tragedy. The game never hands you clear answers, instead trusting you to interpret the metaphors and find your own truth within its labyrinth. Every encounter and piece of dialogue feels loaded with double meaning, every creature you meet embodying a part of the Stranger’s fractured self. The woman who falls into the abyss, the monstrous figure that haunts you, the voices urging you to wake up—all are reflections of the same emotional wound. The writing achieves something rare: it’s philosophical without being pretentious, emotional without being manipulative.
While its length is modest, Strangeland feels complete within its compact runtime. The experience lasts only a few hours, but each moment is deliberate and thematically rich. There’s no filler, no wasted motion—every puzzle, line of dialogue, and scene contributes to the central exploration of grief and redemption. Some players might find the pacing slow or the lack of concrete answers frustrating, yet this ambiguity is part of what makes it powerful. The game doesn’t seek to explain pain or wrap it in a neat conclusion; it simply invites you to dwell within it, to see how loss reshapes perception and identity. It’s a game meant to be felt rather than conquered.
Strangeland ultimately stands as a work of art disguised as a game. It’s a meditation on despair, love, and the human need to find meaning in suffering. For those who appreciate games that challenge emotion rather than reflexes, it’s a deeply rewarding experience. Wormwood Studios and Wadjet Eye Games have crafted something both timeless and timely—a journey that transcends genre to become a reflection of what it means to confront one’s own darkness. It’s short, haunting, and unforgettable, a dream you wake from still thinking about what it was trying to tell you.
Rating: 9/10

Probably the most beautiful wadjeteye game, top notch art and animation, and really good voices going for the weird tones and nailing it. The plot feels a bit trite but the delivery of it throughout makes it worthwhile.

Good game, reminded me a bit of Sanitarium. I did like the first half more than the second half, but then that's true about Sanitarium as well.

Puzzles aren't too hard. I needed to use the in-game hint system once, and look up a guide another time when the hint system was unavailable. A number of the puzzles are pun-based (a character says a sentence, and some of the words sound like something else, and that something else is a hint, if that's makes sense), which is a bit strange and didn't seem to fit the setting. Or maybe it fits the setting and I just don't get how, perhaps I should replay with the dev commentary track enabled to get an explanation :)

I played a lot longer than this as I was translating the game. Full and full with great content, puzzles, dark humour, interesting references. Also the mood of the game was fitting. Eye opening about personal life and psychological concepts.

I really liked the art style, atmosphere, voice acting and story. The game is short, but it's as long as it needs to be, and doesn't overstay its' welcome.