Indie From the creators of Moon, Chulip, and Rule of Rose comes Stray Children, set to release on October 30, 2025, for the Nintendo Switch and Steam

[Viviana Santos]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3649490/Stray_Children/
From the creators of beloved cult-classic videogames such as Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, Chulip, and Rule of Rose, comes Stray Children: a bittersweet fairy tale adventure that will change the way you think about “children” and “adults”.

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Here is a description of the game's premise, provided by the developer:
One day, a young boy is sucked into a TV set and awakens to find himself in a land made up entirely of children.

So begins the boy’s adventures in this strange and dangerous wonderland.

What would you do if all the adults you know suddenly started attacking you? This is the story of children who try to survive and thrive in a world just like this, every day of their lives.

Somewhere, in our world, there’s a secret room, in a secret place, filled top to bottom with ancient technology. When one young boy flips the switch on a curious old console, they’re suddenly whisked away, through the screen, into a very strange somewhere else: a long-since forgotten role-playing game.

Blinking awake in this peculiar new place, they find themselves in a land of children.

Outside this stronghold’s walls lurk The Olders: monstrous adults, carrying the heavy load of their own inadequacies, self-doubt, and all of the grievances that grown-ups gather.

Rumor has it that these creatures are starving for something, and that — out there — no one and nowhere is safe.

Can you survive in this world where half-crazed adults lurk around every corner? It’s here — in this funny, mysterious, and wildly dangerous domain — that your story begins.

Stray Children is the latest game from Tokyo-based independent studio Onion Games. Best known for their 2020/2021 re-release of 1997’s moon: Remix RPG Adventure, Stray Children is being created by a number of former team members behind that similarly bittersweet cult classic.

Following their contributions to other beloved cult favorites like Chulip, Little King’s Story, Rule of Rose, and Super Mario RPG, the industry veterans at Onion Games have also released eccentric and entirely idiosyncratic titles like the puzzling rogue-lite Dandy Dungeon, the operatic side-scrolling shooter Black Bird, the one-button arcade kiss-em-up Mon Amour, and the mobile game madness of Million Onion Hotel.

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Please support Kimura-san and his amazing and talented team at Onion Games.

 

[megabladej]

Thanks for the info. Never heard of this before but looks interesting. I may give this a try.

 

[RustySK]

Ah we have a release date now? Nice! Been looking forward to this for a while now.

Also, always great to see you back on here, Viviana!

 

[ShadowsofCreationAga]

Awesome! Didn't know most of the games they made under 'Onion', looks like I have quite a few to check out now!

 

[sneakyguts]

im hyped for this

 

[ThunderBoy]

I hadn't heard about it.
It looks really good.

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

This looks absolutely spectacular, This reminds me of Mario RPG!

 

[gwardojones]

Moon is one of my all-time favorites. I'm so stoked for Stray Children. I thought we'd never see another game like Moon (save for the other games Lov-de-Lic made that haven't been translated), but here we are! This and 24 Killers have been on my watch list for awhile. Can't wait!

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

I've loved what I've played of Rule of Rose and Chulip, so I'm deffo gonna be adding this to my wishlist.

 

[Dany28]

The game looks cute thanks for share.

 

[dropsmegamega]

I rarely play new releases nowadays, but this is a big deal for me, definitely getting it at launch if I can!

 

[Tonberry]

This looks unbelievably good.
Is the music in the japanese trailer by Toby Fox? I know he's friends with the Moon guy which is why I was curious. In any case, it sounds very similar to his slower stuff.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[iamthemilkman]

I bought quite a few copies of Chulip at Five Below for $5. Fun times.
I guess Limited Run will get my money for a physical copy of Stray Children. Not fun.

 

[nobitakun]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3649490/Stray_Children/
From the creators of beloved cult-classic videogames such as Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, Chulip, and Rule of Rose, comes Stray Children: a bittersweet fairy tale adventure that will change the way you think about “children” and “adults”.

Actually only him is part of the team who made Chulip and Rule of Rose, so the idea is there but the talent is not. So, can we consider a company has the same roots when all the team is changed but the CEO? for instance, Kojima Productions keeps almost the same team that when they were belonging to Konami, that's why they make very similar games.

Although this game's idea seems interesting, let's see how it goes when it is released :)

 

[dropsmegamega]

Actually only him is part of the team who made Chulip and Rule of Rose, so the idea is there but the talent is not. So, can we consider a company has the same roots when all the team is changed but the CEO? for instance, Kojima Productions keeps almost the same team that when they were belonging to Konami, that's why they make very similar games.

Although this game's idea seems interesting, let's see how it goes when it is released :)

No true at all, while its a small team, there's quite a few other people who worked on moon and other related games other than Kimura. Character designer Kazuyuki Kurashima and composer Hirofumi Taniguchi to name a few.

 

[nobitakun]

No true at all, while its a small team, there's quite a few other people who worked on moon and other related games other than Kimura. Character designer Kazuyuki Kurashima and composer Hirofumi Taniguchi to name a few.

I meant the talent changed with the new game, the team was there when Chulip and Rule of Rose but not anymore with this game. When a team changes, you can't make the same, it never works. You can do a different product, and it can be better or worse, but never the same.

 

[Viviana Santos]

This looks unbelievably good.
Is the music in the japanese trailer by Toby Fox? I know he's friends with the Moon guy which is why I was curious. In any case, it sounds very similar to his slower stuff.

Thanks for sharing!

It's not Toby Fox, the soundtrack for Stray Children is composed by Adachi Masahiro and Hirofumi Taniguchi, both associated with Thelonious Monkees.

 

[Tonberry]

It's not Toby Fox, the soundtrack for Stray Children is composed by Adachi Masahiro and Hirofumi Taniguchi, both associated with Thelonious Monkees.

Tyvm, sounded really similar to some UT track I can't put my finger on, but I assume he was inspired by the music from stuff like Moon too so it'd go both ways

 

[Viviana Santos]

Tyvm, sounded really similar to some UT track I can't put my finger on, but I assume he was inspired by the music from stuff like Moon too so it'd go both ways

I don't think Toby Fox would compose the music for Stray Children because of the fact that he is very busy working on Deltarune and also recently composed the music for the Mortis Ghost OFF remake. Also, Stray Children is being developed in Tokyo, while Toby is living in the United States.

I meant the talent changed with the new game, the team was there when Chulip and Rule of Rose but not anymore with this game. When a team changes, you can't make the same, it never works. You can do a different product, and it can be better or worse, but never the same.

The folks at Onion Games are incredibly talented and deserve all the praise they can get. Just because some people haven't returned doesn't mean the game won't have the same magic. Stray Children really has the same level of love, passion, and care that went into games like Moon, Chulip, and Rule of Rose.

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One thing I love about Onion Games is how humble and down to earth their developers are. They have a website called oniongames.jp, and on that website there is a series of comics that talk about what it's like to work at Onion Games, their day-to-day lives, and the development progress of Stray Children. I love how these comics show how passionate and dedicated Yoshirō Kimura and his team are.

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Not only that, these comics are illustrated by the incredibly talented artist Kazuyuki Kurashima (who is the character designer for Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, UFO: A Day in the Life, Endonesia, and also Stray Children).

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Here are some of the comics (unfortunately, most of them are in Japanese, so I'll only include the ones that have been translated).

 

[nobitakun]

I don't think Toby Fox would compose the music for Stray Children because of the fact that he is very busy working on Deltarune and also recently composed the music for the Mortis Ghost OFF remake. Also, Stray Children is being developed in Tokyo, while Toby is living in the United States.

The folks at Onion Games are incredibly talented and deserve all the praise they can get. Just because some people haven't returned doesn't mean the game won't have the same magic. Stray Children really has the same level of love, passion, and care that went into games like Moon, Chulip, and Rule of Rose.

---

One thing I love about Onion Games is how humble and down to earth their developers are. They have a website called oniongames.jp, and on that website there is a series of comics that talk about what it's like to work at Onion Games, their day-to-day lives, and the development progress of Stray Children. I love how these comics show how passionate and dedicated Yoshirō Kimura and his team are.

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Not only that, these comics are illustrated by the incredibly talented artist Kazuyuki Kurashima (who is the character designer for Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, UFO: A Day in the Life, Endonesia, and also Stray Children).

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Here are some of the comics (unfortunately, most of them are in Japanese, so I'll only include the ones that have been translated). View attachment 116801View attachment 116802View attachment 116803

Well, working at a japanese company is not something I would widely say as positive but thank god there are exceptions I could experience 2nd hand. But videogame and manga / anime industry are one of the worst industries to apply for a job, that I also know due to friends and relatives. But well, that's a different topic which I don't want to talk any further.

I believe best talent nowadays come from mid size companies, games that I consider AA because they have some budget and they do amazing things that rival with big games or even surpass them in many cases. Indie games started to be popular on early 2000's but at that time PC was getting 99% of them because consoles were a place for "big" games. Luckily, last decade that changed completely and I think the two main reasons were: lack of talent on big companies due to stupid decissions which helped to relocate those people on AA companies, and evolution of tools to make it easier to create games.

 

[Viviana Santos]

Well, working at a japanese company is not something I would widely say as positive but thank god there are exceptions I could experience 2nd hand. But videogame and manga / anime industry are one of the worst industries to apply for a job, that I also know due to friends and relatives. But well, that's a different topic which I don't want to talk any further.

I believe best talent nowadays come from mid size companies, games that I consider AA because they have some budget and they do amazing things that rival with big games or even surpass them in many cases. Indie games started to be popular on early 2000's but at that time PC was getting 99% of them because consoles were a place for "big" games. Luckily, last decade that changed completely and I think the two main reasons were: lack of talent on big companies due to stupid decissions which helped to relocate those people on AA companies, and evolution of tools to make it easier to create games.

Okay, I agree. I made this post to express my love for Onion Games/Love-de-Lic.

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and also because I'm very excited about Stray Children.