Missing Stranger Things? Play this retro point-and-click game based on the hit show

Indie devs Infamous Quests have created a perfectly retro point-and-click adventure based on Netflix's hit Stranger Things

Being set in the 1980s, Netflix's hit horror-thriller Stranger Things has attracted no shortage of retro-styled homages reimaginging it as a NES-era video game. So far, these have mostly been in the form of fan art or animation, but now one developer has made an actual playable tribute to the series.

Indie developer Infamous Quests, which specialises in traditional adventure games in the LucasArts mold, has recreated a single scene from the show. Focusing on police chief Jim Hopper (played by David Harbour on the Netflix smash), you're on the search for missing Will Byers in the woods on the outskirts of Hawkins town.

Anyone who remembers the likes of Monkey Island will feel immediately at home with the game - you chat with fellow police officers Powell and Callahan, plus science teacher Mr Clarke, with multiple dialogue options. True to genre form, clicking on objects in the environment prompts sarcastic insight into their purpose, and there's even a spot of item-management for puzzle solving.

The time period of Stranger Things was as much an inspiration as the show itself, with the games and pop culture of the era influencing its developer.

"I grew up in the 80s - I was younger than the kids in the series, but my older brother was the same age as the characters in 1983, and he was my hero when I was a kid, so I really identified with that," Steven Alexander, writer and programmer of the game, tells WIRED. "We were always riding our bikes around town, getting into trouble, I played Dungeons and Dragons when I was older, and so on."

"Plus, I read Stephen King novels like crazy as a teen, and Spielberg movies are some of my favorite flicks ever," Alexander adds. "I just really responded to everything they did creatively - it reminded me a lot of what I try to do in making the kinds of games we do at Infamous Quests."

Infamous Quests' visual style for the game pixel-perfect, with the cast and settings looking like an actual game from the 80s. Throw in accurate music from the show, and this is an extremely well-produced tribute. The response from players has been reassuring too, with Alexander saying "It's been very positive! So many people have been great about it - they want more!"

Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers have already made it known they'd be open to an official game based on the show, with Ross Duffer saying "what I really want is a video game," and brother Matt adding it should be "like an 8-bit".

With Infamous Quests' short offering serving as an example, we're inclined to agree - and an expanded adventure game expanding the Stranger Things world would be more fitting than a Mario Bros.-style platformer.

There's been no contact with The Duffer Brothers or Netflix - "Nothing official yet," Alexander says, "but I would love to be able to chat with them about possibilities." - but if they were interested, the developer knows where they would take the game.

"I wrote up a whole design doc, did research on the locations in the show, mapped out ideas," Alexander explains. "The game would, in my design, have several player characters. In the demo, you plays as Chief Hopper, but I'd imagine being able to play as Mike in another storyline and Nancy in another. You'd play as them seperately until the stories converge."

As fantastic as that sounds, it does remain only a dream for now. Until it's not, you can download the free game here, which is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK