Hello Stranger is A Fantastically Twisty FMV Thriller

One of my very first FMV games was Her Story from Sam Barlow. I remember being so completely entranced by this game that felt like I was playing through a movie. Another fantastic director and writer who has created a handful of titles in the FMV genre is Paul Rashid who worked on Five Dates (2020), The Complex (2020), Ten Dates (2023) and The Gallery (2022). The newest title that Paul has worked on is Hello Stranger developed by PRM Games.

Hello Stranger is a psychological horror-thriller about a man named Cam (George Blagden) who has suddenly become trapped in his home by a hacker who forces him to play three games to survive. Cam conducts his entire life from his electronically automated smart home. If that doesn’t sound like a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what does. He also spends much of his time on a website called Hello Stranger where strangers on the internet are able to video call with one another. And that’s how Cam gets trapped with this psychotic game maker. 

Something unique to Hello Stranger is its video game mini-games. One of the challenges that the hacker forces Cam to play is either a racing game or a platforming game. From there you’ll have to complete one of the two games and get a high score. Both games are very simplistic, only requiring you to use a button or two in order to play, but they were finicky enough to cause a bit of a challenge. You’ll also have to play some other games, but those are more classic FMV style, like Rock, Paper, Scissors against the hacker where you simply choose which one to select and whether you win or lose is mostly random.

Some awesome features of the game include the ability to play in Cinema Mode where players are only in charge of making choices. This is perfect for someone that is a bit inexperienced with video games that just wants to enjoy the story and the ability to make choices for the characters. You can also play the game in two other modes: Timed and Paused. Timed allows for a more immersive, pressured experience where Paused is used for group play or for streamers to use with their audience.

So far, I’ve gotten a handful of different endings, but haven’t gotten the chance to find all ten of the endings in Hello Stranger. What I have seen, so far, are some twisty and unexpected ends. And I’ve died a lot. But that’s part of the fun - using trial and error to see what works. I’m excited to dive back in and get the rest of the endings when I’ve got more time because I absolutely love the story in Hello Stranger as well as the fantastic acting from the cast.