Wayward Strand

Wayward Strand is a narrative game set over a long weekend in the summer of 1978. Casey Beaumaris agrees to help her mother at the airborne hospital where she works, secretly planning to write an article about her visit for the school newspaper. With her notebook, Casey spends time with the patients, learns about their lives and discovers what she can do to help.

The hospital

The staff are overworked as they prepare for an important official’s visit. Patients are dealing with grief or active trauma, while more than a dozen characters pursue their own desires, goals and imaginations. They move through the hospital on their own timelines, sharing news, arguing, joking and gossiping, and sometimes talking with Casey.

Stories in real time

Time passes for everyone, and characters continue their lives whether or not Casey interacts with them. You roam freely through the hospital each day and choose which stories to follow by exploring, talking with people or observing them. You can follow someone to see where they go and what they do, eavesdrop on conversations, or join in.

Spending time with particular characters can lead to new storylines, locations, revelations and resolutions. Casey records events and information in her notebook, which you use to explore people’s stories, make discoveries and piece together mysteries. Each playthrough can reveal things you missed before.