Gaming: Stranger Things trailer, Star Trek: Dark Remnant VR, Penny Arcade D&D

Today’s gaming roundup sees some familiar properties adapted to the world of video (and tabletop) games, which all promise new ways for fans to explore and engage with their favorite genre franchises.

First up is Stranger Things. The Netflix hit show already namechecks Dungeons & Dragons so hard that it shows up in the pilot and is getting its own Stranger Things-branded spinoff, but now it’s trafficking that nostalgia in a retro-looking adventure game.

Stranger Things 3: The Game is a co-op adventure game that goes over plot elements of the third season with 12 playable characters (some of whom fans don’t even know yet) and is coming to mobile, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Mac and PC, and Xbox One on July 4. Oh, and it just dropped its first trailer.

Check it out:

The game arrives the same day as the third season, but the minute-and-a-half trailer already shows off some adorable friendship moments between Dustin and Steve (as well as some thirsty moments featuring Billy) in the upcoming plot.

There’s some crazy stuff — like monsters, machine guns, and maybe even a transformation — coming to both the streaming show and the game.

Next, another huge franchise adds to its video game bona fides: Star Trek.

According to Variety, Star Trek: Dark Remnant — the four-player co-op VR experience based on the space-exploring universe — has launched in 122 Dave & Buster’s locations. The game takes place on the U.S.S. Galileo, which is set on rescuing the Enterprise from certain doom, and features multiple endings based on performance. This isn't the first time Star Trek has gone VR, since Star Trek: Bridge Crew has been making waves for a while. 

This new game joins food/gaming chain Dave & Buster’s other VR offering, Jurassic World VR Expedition, which was enough of a hit to prompt a bigger investment in both the tech and big-name properties.

Finally, fans are getting yet another new way to play D&D thanks to Penny Arcade’s Acquisitions Incorporated.

According to a release, the new D&D sourcebook is based on the podcast/livestage exploits of Omin Dran, Jim Darkmagic, Môrgæn, and Viari — all flavored in the vein of their business-oriented playstyle. Made in partnership with Penny Arcade, the Wizards of the Coast offering will still be a big (224-page) book of rules for players and DMs alike, just with the added twist of being set in an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign.

“To tons of people around the world, the flavor of D&D played by the Acquisitions Incorporated crew was their first taste of just how much fun a Dungeons & Dragons game could be,” said Nathan Stewart, senior director of Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. “We wanted to start experimenting with presenting different playstyles to fans entering the D&D community, and it made sense to start with a group who has spent 10 years at a table with Chris Perkins entertaining hordes of fans.”

With an added adventure module coming with the book, fans can effectively roleplay as the characters of their favorite D&D players. “I’ve played Dungeons & Dragons my entire life, so collaborating with the team on this project has been surreal,” said Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins. “Acquisitions Incorporated is the game my friends and I have been playing for 10 years, and I'm so honored to invite players to our table.” All the exploits fans have listened to for over a decade have surely inspired their imaginations as much as this new book.

Acquisitions Incorporated drops on June 18.