Stray Children

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Stray Children is a role-playing video game developed by Onion Games, a games company formed by members of Love-de-Lic. The game begins with a child being sucked into a television set into a world inhabited with children [1] that have put up a wall to protect themselves from "Olders", adults that have become monstrous because of their inadequacies and personal issues. [2]

It was revealed in a Nintendo Direct on September 14, 2023, where the game's Japanese release date was announced for the coming winter. An English release was teased but no release date was given at the time. [3] It released on Nintendo Switch in Japan [2] on December 26, 2024. [1] The worldwide release on Switch and through Steam [4] occurred on October 30, 2025. [5]

The game makes several references to Moon: Remix RPG Adventure , released in 1997 by Love-de-Lic. [6] It has been compared to Undertale , [7] in part due to its gameplay involving battles with both bullet hell mechanics and the ability to talk to opponents to break through their defences. [2] Developer Yoshiro Kimura has stated that Undertale was an influence on Stray Children. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 Romano, Sal (2024-08-27). "Stray Children launches December 26 in Japan". Gematsu. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  2. 1 2 3 Kuhnke, Oisin (2025-06-05). "Stray Children, the oddball RPG from the devs behind cult classic Moon, is coming to PC in English later this year". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  3. Handley, Zoey (2023-09-14). "The Japanese Nintendo Direct shows off the latest Onion Games project, Stray Children". Destructoid. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  4. Fuller, Alex (2025-06-04). "Stray Children Heading West This Year". RPGamer. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  5. "Stray Children". Gematsu. 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  6. Baker, Michael (2025-02-16). "Stray Children Deep Look". RPGamer. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  7. Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (2025-10-30). "Former Suikoden and Romancing Saga devs release fairytale RPG Stray Children, with a plea to never spoil the ending". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
  8. Fenlon, Wes (2025-10-12). "After learning his cult '90s RPG influenced Undertale, this Japanese developer finally got 'the courage' to make another RPG decades later thanks to Toby Fox". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-11-03.