In Stray Gods, players assume the role of Grace, a college dropout who finds herself accused of murdering the last muse. Grace must prove her innocence to a pantheon of Greek gods, consisting of Athena, Apollo, Persephone, and Aphrodite, all within seven days. She must learn to wield her newly developed powers of music to find out the truth behind Calliope’s death.[1] Players select dialogue choices, which change the lyrics, musical style, and even outcome of the songs.
Cast and characters
Laura Bailey as Grace, a young singer who inherits the power of the last muse, Calliope.
Stray Gods is developed by Melbourne, Australia-based developer Summerfall Studios. It is written by founder David Gaider, formerly of BioWare, and scored by Austin Wintory, composer of Journey. The songs were co-written by Wintory with singer Montaigne and the Australian musical trio Tripod. Stray Gods uses 2D hand-illustrated visuals, featuring comic book-style aesthetics with stylized character design.
Originally named Chorus: An Adventure Musical, the game had successfully crowdfunded on Fig.co in 2019, after it was announced at PAX AUS in an opening keynote by David Gaider.[2] The name change was announced on March 18, 2022, as well as Summerfall Studios’ partnership with Humble Games for Stray Gods.[3]
The game includes branching narrative paths, where player choice will not only determine the story and tone of the dialogue spoken, but also the melodies, lyrics, and styles of music that Grace sings.[5] According to Austin Wintory, the "combinatorial potential of the songs" in Stray Gods is so large that it is virtually impossible for anyone to have the same playthrough twice.[6] In June 2023, Summerfall and Humble announced that the game will also be available on all major home consoles alongside its Steam release in August.[7]
On June 27, 2024, Summerfall Studios released a DLC called Stray Gods: Orpheus. It features six additional songs by the original songwriters along with Tom Cardy.[11]
Stray Gods has received generally positive critical reception. Critics praised the voice acting, art style, overall idea,[18][16][20] but were more mixed on its execution and the songs themselves.[16] Some critics also found the audio mixing to be subpar and felt that some of the singing was not satisfactory in comparison with the voice acting.[20][22]
Accolades
It was an Honorable Mention for "Excellence in Audio" and "Excellence in Narrative" at the 2024 Independent Games Festival Awards,[23] and was an Honorable Mention for "Best Debut" at the 24th Game Developers Choice Awards.[24] The game was also nominated for "Game, Original Adventure", "Original Light Mix Score, New IP", "Performance in a Comedy, Supporting" with Janina Gavankar as Freddie, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Persephone, and Felicia Day as Athena, and "Song, Original or Adapted" with "Adrift", and won "Performance in a Comedy, Lead" with Laura Bailey as Grace, and "Writing in a Comedy" at the NAVGTR Awards.[25][26] It also won the award for "Best Music for an Indie Game", "Best New Original IP Audio", and "Best Original Song" at the 22nd Annual Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G) Awards, whereas its other nominations were for "Best Ensemble Cast Performance" and "Creative and Technical Achievement in Music".[27][28]
