On Wednesday, the streaming giant Netflix released Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, the company’s first internally developed game. This game is available for free and without ads or paywalls with a Netflix subscription (starting at $7, £7 or AU$7 a month) on Android and iOS devices.
This supernatural narrative-driven game is a sequel to the award-winning 2016 game Oxenfree and was developed by the same team behind the original, Night School Studio. Netflix bought Night School Studio in 2021 as part of the streamer’s push into gaming.
The gameplay and spooky environment of Oxenfree II will feel familiar to anyone who played the original, as you walk through eerie landscapes, talk to your companion and solve various puzzles. But otherwise this sequel has new characters and areas and serves as its own standalone game — but you’d gain a lot of context from playing the first game beforehand.
The game’s environments aren’t the only thing that’s anxiety inducing either. Character interactions feel heavy with meaning as the characters struggle to find the right words to say and discuss their past trauma and future fears. And as you learn about each character, you can respond by pushing them away or comforting them.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this game and the original are named Oxenfree. The phrase, “Olly, olly oxen free” is used in children’s games, like hide-and-go-seek, to signal a kind of truce. It’s like saying, “You can show yourself; I won’t hurt you.” And both games seem to ask whether you’ll abide by that promise and help those around you once you learn who they really are.
You can access this game and others with any of Netflix’s subscriptions, which start at $7 a month. To access Netflix games, open the Netflix app on your Android or iOS device, scroll down the homepage until you see the Mobile Games carousel, and tap into the game you want to play.
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