Strain

STRAIN is not your typical survival game. While you may find yourself scavenging for resources, crafting equipment, preparing meals to restore hunger and sanity, or fighting off hostile scavengers, there is more to this world than what you see on the surface.

Factions rule the city from within inescapable walls. You must befriend others, build reputation to factions and prove yourself through faction-specific challenges to join them. These factions can help you in different ways, but who you choose to join will change the course of your life and others' along the way.

The Procedural City Parts of the world will change with each playthrough. While key locations remain the same, all the shops, restaurants, offices and homes are different each time. Each requiring a different level type of lock breaking or lockpicking to enter. Within them are relevant items needed to survive, for example, in an Italian restaurant you'll be likely to find tomato sauce, olive oil and flour. In a clothing store, you may find shirts which can be used to craft cloth for new items and base upgrades.

Complex Interactions Characters are found in different places each day, reaching them depends on which areas you have access to. When you speak to someone when you're not well, they will know. If you're friends, they'll give you something to help. Everyday you have a chance to build or diminish your relationship through a new conversation. They may comment on what you're wearing, something you've done or discuss something about the area you're in or the activity they were doing. If you're very close, you'll be able to invite them over to spend more time together.

Base Upgrades, Crafting and Cooking Your home base is where you sleep, craft, cook, bath, etc. The more you upgrade your base, the slower hygiene or other stats will go down or completing an action, such as sleeping, will improve yours stats faster over time while doing the action.

Combat You may come across other scavengers who have claimed the building to loot. They will fight you off, so you need to be prepared when entering buildings and choosing which ones are worth the risk of the fight. You may also encounter hostile faction members in the streets or raiding your building. And of course, if you choose to participate, you can fight to the death in The Pit. With no guns available in the city, you must resort to hand to hand combat or hand held weapons you can find, craft and upgrade.