Update #2 [Thu 5th Jun, 2025 09:30 BST]: Stray Children will officially launch on the Nintendo Switch in the West later this year, Onion Games has confirmed.
The RPG was originally released on the Nintendo Switch platform in December of last year, in Japan, with the developer also teasing that an English localization was on the way. Now it seems the team is confident enough to suggest it will be about before the end of the year, though, frustratingly, there's still no precise date on when it will drop.
In addition to this, the studio has also announced a Steam version is on the way this year too, with this version listing both Japanese and English language options.
Here is a description of the game, provided on Steam:
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.
You can wishlist the game here.
Update #1 [Thu 1st Feb, 2024 16:30 GMT]: As spotted by Gematsu, Onion Games yesterday announced that its upcoming RPG Stray Children will no longer launch in Winter 2024 in Japan (as originally planned), but will instead release at an unspecified time later in the year.
The developer has apologized for the inconvenience on social media and asked players to fill out a survey to give their thoughts and opinions on the game's future.
This survey includes questions about the platforms people would be interested in buying the game on, what language preferences they'd prefer at launch, what merchandise they'd like to see, and whether people would support a crowdfunding campaign for the title. You can fill out the survey here.
Original Story [Fri 15th Sep, 2023 11:30 BST]: Yesterday's Nintendo Direct had a bunch of incredible announcements for retro gamers, but as is typical the Japanese broadcast hid some incredible announcements that we didn't get to see outside of Japan.
Case in point, the developer Onion Games — which is a company formed by individuals who worked on classic titles like Super Mario RPG, Chulip, Rule Of Rose, Little King's Story, & Moon — announced a new, eagerly-anticipated RPG, called Stray Children, which is coming to Nintendo Switch this Winter in Japan (thanks Gematsu for the spot!).
There is no worldwide release date yet, but Onion Games announced on Twitter shortly after the reveal that the game will eventually be localized and published outside of the region.
The game follows a young boy who has been sucked into a TV screen and enters a strange world filled with children. You can watch the trailer below and check out its English website here. More information is apparently on the way, so we'll keep you posted once more details are announced.