MOUSE TRAP

Back in 2019, discussing what genre Death Stranding slotted into, Hideo Kojima claimed it was something new: a ‘strand game’. The defining feature of this new genre was forging social connections, which in the case of Death Stranding was done by delivering packages and linking up the disparate communities of survivors. A mix, then, of walking sims and community-minded games like Stardew Valley.

Despite being a brief, minimalist game where you play a little ball of light on a quest to save is absolutely a sibling to . These sad beasties, who were once human, need a friend, you see, and for that friend to deliver food and medicine to cure what ails them.