Screenshot: BonusXP, Inc.

We’re a little more than three weeks away from being able to binge our way through Stranger Things’ second season, and Netflix just released a neat little appetizer to hold us over until the premiere. The streaming service has teamed up with a game developer called BonusXP to make a free Stranger Things mobile game, and compared to how this sort of thing usually goes, it’s actually pretty good. At least, it doesn’t appear to do the typical free-game thing of bilking you out of extra cash somewhere down the line.


In keeping with the spirit of the series, it’s an overtly retro-themed affair that plays like an old-school Legend Of Zelda game and looks and sounds like something the Super NES might’ve been able to turn out. (Yes, that includes a chiptune-style rendition of the Stranger Things theme song.) You start out controlling Police Chief Hopper as he investigates reports of some missing kids. You punch stuff, solve simple puzzles, unlock doors with keys that inexplicably disappear after a single use, and eventually start encountering more characters from the show who join your adventure and offer up their unique abilities. And of course, there’s a ton of junk to collect, including those sweet, sweet Eggo waffles.

The game is available now for both Android and iOS, and Stranger Things season two hits Netflix on October 27.


[via Rolling Stone]