Talk
to Strangers

Talk to Strangers (2019) is a narrative adventure where you play a struggling door-to-door salesperson selling mysterious wares to the neighbourhood. You talk to the residents in an effort to convince them to buy your goods while simultaneously using your small earnings to medicate your depression and anger. It stands out for how your words affect both your potential customers and your own state of mind.

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In a small rural neighbourhood, you play a door-to-door salesperson working for Sunny Mornings to sell a product you're not even sure what it is. As you go from house to house, meeting colourful characters and wacky creatures, you must judge each person's mood to say the correct thing and get a sale. At the same time, you need to keep your mental health in check and ensure you make enough money to afford another night in the local motel.

Play involves selecting questions and responses when talking to the people who answer the door. Depending on the time of day you visit, each person's mood varies, and sometimes the obvious choice of words isn't always the best.

Alongside affecting the chance of a sale, your interactions also have a direct effect on your mental health - both your depression and anger alter with the dialogue. At the end of each day, you can use the money you've made to rent a room at the motel and buy items such as cigarettes to regulate your emotions. Depending on your choices, both in dialogue and in how you treat your emotions, there are thirty-two different endings to the story.

The result is a game where your words and emotions directly affect each other, providing a unique and multi-faceted way of interacting with the often bizarre world, its inhabitants, and its story.

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Talk to Strangers 10 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 10 months ago.