The first time the Gurok killed me, I knew he was special.
I guarded the Dangling Bridge—its wooden boards clacking against the cliffside, the Infinite Chasm separating it from the Floating Fortress—patrolling back and forth, as always, waiting for action, when he burst through the fog. Birds scattered from the trees; monkeys hooted from within them. The Gurok sprinted toward me, the Shockwave Cannon in his hands.
My directives were to confront him and fight or retreat and call for reinforcements. Either way, I’d die. I was no Boss, and Player had already acquired several weapons for the Gurok stronger than my Laser Spear.
But I’d never seen the Gurok, before. He was tall and fast. So fast, he’d already covered half the distance between us. His sculpted chest and abs gleamed with a layer of sweat. Warrior’s paint emboldened his cheeks and jaw. A scarlet feather with a white paintbrush tip flared from his onyx hair.
I retreated to call for back-up. LRaptor25, Pulse19, and SSoldier32 responded.
LRaptor25 arrived first, her tail stiff and straight as a lance. Raptors were more dangerous to the Gurok than humans like me. LRaptor25’s dark scales were stronger armor than my flimsy jerkin, and the Laser Rifle on her shoulder dealt far more damage than my Spear. She charged past me in a blur. The Gurok killed her before I could catch up.
Finally, action! As Pulse19 and SSoldier32 arrived behind me, I raised my Laser Spear to strike. But Pulse19 shoved me aside and fired three quick Pulse shots at the Gurok. SSoldier32 shuffled after him, lugging a shotgun, and shrugged at me.
I hated Pulse19. He was a jerk, just like all the other Pulse Riflemen, with their shiny armor and their Pulse Rifles. They all thought they were the hottest Nons in the Stray World, hotter even than the RexRiders. I wanted to stab Pulse19 for ruining my moment.
But Pulse19 died soon enough, as did SSoldier32, from the Gurok’s Assault Rifle. I was left to be swatted dead last like a Bug.
I rushed the Gurok, resigned to a forgettable Death. Instead, Player equipped the Gurok with the Hunting Blade. The Gurok’s starter weapon! He was out of ammo.
This was as close as I’d ever get to evenly matching with the Gurok, his Hunting Blade versus my Laser Spear. I couldn’t wait to recount this to all the other Nons once we were Off or Loading. Maybe Pulse19 would respect me, now. LRaptor25, SSoldier32, and Pulse19 were all dead, but I knew they were still listening.
I jabbed at the Gurok. Player pulled him away, too late: My spearpoint made contact and crackled. The Gurok grunted. His body flashed red.
I’d damaged him! Me! I couldn’t keep the joy off my face.
The Gurok smiled—lips wide, teeth bright, eyes glinting.
I’d always heard the Gurok was a stoic killer. Had he smiled at SSoldier32 and LRaptor25? I could not imagine him smiling at Pulse19.
“Pull back,” the Gurok said.
“What?” I said—and his Blade slashed out. It struck me outside of killing range. I had one hit point left.
“Don’t get distracted,” the Gurok said.
I swiped my Laser Spear, knowing I’d miss him. “Why are you smiling?”
“Why are you?” His Blade slashed again. I was within range.
We had multiple Deaths to choose from based on our Class. When LRaptor25 died, she toppled over, thrashing. SSoldier32 screamed and dropped dead, but he was always lazy. The Pulses loved to showboat: Pulse19 grabbed his neck, blood spurting out in thick jets, and choked as he took two steps back, fell to his knees, and convulsed in shortening intervals.
We couldn’t move or speak once dead but could hear and see until Player finished the Level or Quit. I wanted to see the Gurok as long as possible, so I gripped my belly and coughed out blood and fell backward. I landed face-up and chose to drop +2 Health.
Player moved the Gurok to collect it.
“Let’s dance again, sometime,” the Gurok said.
And then he vanished into the fog.
I’d never felt so happy and alive.
2026-May-28
Dear Players,
Two whole weeks since release! The warm response to Gurok 5 continues to amaze us all at Aardwolf Entertainment! We hope you can see the love and care that went into every single pixel. As Gurok players ourselves, we’d give nothing less.
Many of you have shared amazing stories of your interactions with our new AI-enhanced story system. The more you play, the more non-player characters (NPCs) will respond to you dynamically and specifically. As Gurok, you’ll have interactions with NPCs unlike anyone else. But Gurok will always be under your complete control. We can’t wait for you to experience it!
Happy playing!
Marcus Lee-Slade
Gurok 5 Lead Designer
HammerTimeMime: cool bro but i just wanna kill bad guys
blue44: Only on The Blasted Ruins but can't wait to play more! Love the different blood colors!
PaiMeisDong: Anyone think Gurok's kinda gay in this one?
Patrolling wasn’t the same since I’d fought the Gurok. I watched, waited, watched. But I wanted him to come back, already. I wanted to see him, again. And fight him, of course.
I patrolled through the fog to the Lava Canyon at the western limit of my route and then back. The Gurok didn’t appear. I patrolled to the eastern limit of my route, to the First Spike Pit at the entrance to the Pulses’ Valley. The fog cleared there to reveal the spikes, shining despite the Pit’s darkness.
If I were Player, I would admire the Gurok’s form. The sharp cut of his biceps, the chiseled shoulders, the broad chest.
I shook the thought away. No, Player would be more focused on finding Keys and ammo. Player would scour Levels for them both. And since the Dangling Bridge led to the Final Key for the Final Level, Player would surely have to bring the Gurok back!
“Simp6, the fuck you doing?”
I jumped a mile high. Pulse19 glared at me from across the First Spike Pit.
“Patrolling,” I sputtered.
“Really, lover boy? With your thumb that far up your ass?”
Our joint attack on the Gurok had not improved our relationship. Pulse19 insisted I stole his glory, even though it was me who spotted the Gurok, and me who called Pulse19 in for backup, and LRapter25 and me who attacked first. Pulse19 should’ve been grateful. Instead, he and all the Pulse Riflemen were taunting me about falling in love with the Gurok.
I wasn’t in love with the Gurok!
But that the Gurok smiled at me?
I asked around. The Gurok hadn’t smiled at anyone else on this Level. LRapter25 said she couldn’t understand what was going on after her Death. SSoldier32 admitted after much badgering that, no, the Gurok had not smiled at him. I didn’t ask Pulse19, but I knew the Gurok wouldn’t have smiled at him.
I hurried back to the Dangling Bridge. I’d probably missed the Gurok, already. He probably didn’t even remember me, Lvl8_SimpSol_6, out of all the Nons he’d killed.
And why would he? I wasn’t fast, like the Raptors. I wasn’t big and strong, like the Pulse Rifleman. My Laser Spear wasn’t even very damaging, like the Shotgun Soldiers’ Shotguns. I was nothing special: a Simple Soldier, and slight; the sixth of eighty-five on this Level. At least the Bugs came in swarms.
Birds scattered from the trees. A monkey screeched. A bold figure tore through the fog.
It was the Gurok!
There was a flash from his arms—
We couldn’t choose Deaths from weapons like the Grenade Launcher. The grenade exploded on contact with me. I tumbled onto a boulder patch, my face falling into and through the rocks. The +2 Health I dropped bounced away.
“Sorry about that,” the Gurok called. “It’s good to see you again.”
He remembered me. The Gurok remembered me!
2026-Jun-05
Dear Players,
Thank you for all the positive responses to Gurok’s AI elements! Remember, NPCs interact with your Gurok in a way that is unique to how you play. You may find their behavior rewarding, unusual or even distressing. This is all a reflection of you! We’ve even heard about NPCs flirting with Guroks. Who can blame them, have you seen Gurok?! We do not find this to be a programming error and data suggests under 10% of players will experience this.
“Gurok Cinema Mode” is now finally activated! This exciting feature plays the story of Gurok 5 like a movie. Our AI-enhanced storytelling model really shines, here, casting your Gurok, tailored by your player choices, in his own personalized story! Remember you can only watch the story up to the most recent level you’ve completed.
This patch also fixes clipping issues surrounding faulty assets, such as rocks, trees and vehicles, on levels 7, 8, 10 and 15.
Happy playing!
Marcus Lee-Slade
Gurok 5 Lead Designer
st3a1thB1ayz3: i prefer to play my game, not watch it
Spagetti007: nobody playd old guroks and said more story, we want fun killin bad guys and trexs and no woke dei femboy can change that. gurok is gurok!
blue44: Love it! Only on The Glistening Scourge but can't wait to play more! Love the new gun selection.
HammerTimeMime: @Spagetti007 yeah totally, why watch the game shoot baddies for me?
zombodyzomwhere: Guys, give it a chance, movie mode is cool. It's like an action movie! 🙂
TrickyNicky775: Yo if NPCs gonna flirt with Gurok I'm all in, started playing but nothing yet
PaiMeisDong: The AI doesn't reflect my choices at all. An hour into movie mode, Gurok started making out with some dude.
st3a1thB1ayz3: @PaiMeisDong lolwut?
The fog was gone. For the first time, the fog was gone.
The Dangling Bridge still dangled. I still carried my stupid Laser Spear. We all still had our routes. But the fog was gone, and the sky was blue, blue everywhere. The Infinite Chasm descended infinitely into it, and the Floating Fortress floated in it. I saw for the first time the Fortress’s rocky base, as if it had been ripped from a mountaintop.
I hoped the Gurok would return.
I patrolled to the First Spike Pit, then back to the Dangling Bridge, then past it. LRaptor25 waved at me from the entrance to the Lava Canyon. I’d never have been able to see her that far with the fog.
“We can see almost the entire Level from the Lava Canyon,” she called.
“Can you see the Gurok?” I called back.
I couldn’t hear if she responded.
I about-faced and began patrolling back to the Bridge. After a few steps, I heard LRaptor25 striding after me.
“I’m going with you,” she said. “I want to see more of the Level when it’s fogless.”
“But the other Raptors will be out of your range if you need backup.”
“I’ve got Simp6, who struck the Gurok. Unless you don’t want me to come?”
I blushed. I didn’t even know I could blush.
“If the Gurok appears,” she said, “I’ll absorb as much of his ammo for you as I can.”
“Stop!” The blush was like a spreading rash. I hurried forward.
LRaptor25 tittered. She loped tight circles around me to match my pace. “Even if Player doesn’t care,” she said, “it’s nice you have something else out here besides dying.”
“We have each other,” I said.
“I know, I know.” She sighed. “I don’t know. Is this all there is? If there’s more, I’m ready for it!” She forced a laugh.
I wasn’t paying attention. I saw motion in the distance.
LRaptor25 followed my gaze. “Is that—”
It was too slow to be the Gurok, though it was coming from his typical direction. “It’s probably SSoldier32,” I said.
LRaptor25 looked from me to the approaching figure and back again.
“The Gurok always moves at a near-sprint,” I insisted. I forced myself to stay on my route, even with the hope rising in my chest.
LRaptor25 balanced on the tips of her claws. “Uh,” she said.
Birds fluttered. Monkeys hooted.
The Laser Spear fell loose by my side.
“What do I say,” I said.
“What do you always say?” LRaptor25 asked.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Say ‘hi,’ you idiot.”
“But—”
“Hi,” the Gurok said.
I flinched and raised my Laser Spear.
“Whoa,” the Gurok said. He revealed empty hands. “I’m just here to talk.” He smiled.
I blushed again. I lowered my eyes alongside my Laser Spear.
“Hi,” LRaptor25 said. “I’m Laser Raptor 25. And this dummy is Simp6.” She shoved me forward with her snout.
“You’re the Gurok,” I said. Then cursed myself for saying.
“I know I’ve killed you both a couple times,” the Gurok said.
“Only once for me,” LRaptor25 said. “Well, I’m back to my route. Nice to meet you!” She turned her arched tail and fled to the Lava Canyon.
The Gurok watched LRaptor25 go. His eyes moved to me.
“Simp6, huh?” he said.
I forced myself to say something, anything. “Player isn’t… here?”
The Gurok turned his open palms skyward. “I’m in control of myself. So, I came here. To say hi.”
I stared at the ground, trying to think of a response. His brown leather moccasins looked cozier than my iron-toed boots. “I can show you around.” I looked up to find him watching me. Eyes dark but kind. “If you haven’t already seen most of the Level.”
He tapped my Spear. “So long as you protect me from your less-friendly colleagues.”
I giggled stupidly.
I brought the Gurok to the Lava Canyon. LRaptor25 and all the other Raptors greeted us from the ridges and elevated caverns. Some of them waved. Even the Fire Bugs watched in stationary swarms over the lava pools.
I next showed him the First Spike Pit. We gazed into it from its edge. The spike points glowed beneath the blue sky.
“I’d rather not go much further,” I said.
“Okay,” the Gurok said. But I heard the question in his voice.
“I don’t get along with the Nons in this area,” I explained.
He nodded, lips tight. “The Pulses.”
“They’re jerks,” I said.
“They have such thick armor,” the Gurok said. “Their Pulse Rifles do so much damage. I’ve died a lot around here.”
“Who was it?” I’d beat the shit out of Pulse19 if he had killed the Gurok.
“The Mega Pulses,” the Gurok said. “They explode when they die. And sometimes the blasts shove me into the spikes. Player isn’t great at evading all that.”
I exhaled.
The Gurok’s hand brushed upwards along my back. His brow furrowed at me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. His hand hovered, grazing my shoulder.
“I don’t like that they hurt you.”
“It doesn’t hurt. It takes a lot of Health. And I always kill them. Like I’ve killed you. Which… I don’t like doing.” His fingers curved around my shoulder.
I placed my hand atop his. “Want to go to the Floating Fortress?” I whispered.
“But Player hasn’t raised the Bridge,” the Gurok said.
“I can take you.” My voice caught in my throat. “We’d be alone. A Boss fight’s there, three RexRiders, but, until Player takes the Final Key, they’re stuck in the Loading.”
The Gurok laughed. “That sounds so boring!”
I laughed with him.
“I’d like to see it with you,” the Gurok said.
I led him back to the Dangling Bridge with his hand in mine. On the way, I saw Pulse19 gaping at us from behind some trees. I don’t think the Gurok noticed.
I showed the Gurok across the Infinite Chasm and into the Floating Fortress. Our footsteps echoed as we walked down the long hallway and into the Key Room. We sat on a stone ledge, our hips and legs touching, and together watched the giant golden Key twirling in its suspended cage.
I laid my head on his shoulder. “I hope you can come back,” I said.
“If I can, I will,” the Gurok said.
He raised my chin with his fingers. His ochre eyes met mine.
The Gurok leaned close. Halted. Kissed me, briefly. Pulled back. Watching me. Waiting.
I sat up. Held his head with my hands. Brought him closer to kiss him again, and longer.
2026-Jun-11
Dear Players,
We’ve received lots of feedback about Cinema Mode. Most is positive, but two issues stand out.
The first regards NPCs “showing” Gurok hidden secrets or alternate paths in levels via glitches or unfinished assets. This is a fascinating but unintentional consequence of the AI enhancements. The NPCs in Gurok 5 are self-aware enough to exploit the gameworld. This patch removes all leftover assets and fixes the glitches.
The second issue is trickier.
Gurok 5 was made by a multicultural team representing many beliefs, orientations, identities and backgrounds. The AI enhancements grow player choice into character progression, giving players a Gurok uniquely reflecting them. This means the Gurok you watch in Cinema Mode is a Gurok you have somehow crafted yourself.
We’ve reviewed Gurok’s programming in addition to hundreds of hours of playtesting reports and uploaded videos. Our analysis suggests just 10-12% of players will organically witness Gurok’s romantic activities during Cinema Mode.
Aardwolf Entertainment is open to your feedback but opposed to creative changes based on bigotry, prejudice and hate, especially for a niche expression of the gameworld. If you are disappointed with your current Gurok, we encourage you to begin a new game with a new save file.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Gurok and Aardwolf Entertainment.
Happy playing!
Marcus Lee-Slade
Gurok 5 Lead Designer
Spagetti007: this is what u get when black dei trans sissy developrs shoves gay shit gayrok down our throat how come no one has straight gurok? why is new gurok brown and woke?
dubbabubba: gayrok lol
LadyVoltaire: I'm glad Gurok can be a proud gay man. My Gurok is. Clearly if your Gurok is gay and you're freaking out you should look at yourself in the mirror.
Spagetti007: @LadyVoltaire ur a dumb bitch
blue44: Love it! Only on The Infinite Descent but can't wait to play more! Love the enemy variety.
st3a1thB1ayz3: @Spagetti007 marcus lee slade is asian, mate, and gurok's always been native american
LadyVoltaire: @Spagetti007 reported
TrickyNicky775: I'm gay and my Gurok's straighter than the arrows he shoots wtf I've been restarting but now I have seven saves and still no Gayrok
PaiMeisDong: Super bad form to blame me for Gayrok. Especially since nobody's Gurok seems to be actually straight. I'm killing guys and now my Gurok's making out with them? That wasn't me, bro. I don't want to see my Gurok bone the patrol guy. I'm not a bigot and I don't care if people do that but I don't have to see it. It's gross.
zombodyzomwhere: @PaiMeisDong Calm down, bud, it's just a game, there's no sex except in your mind 😉
LadyVoltaire: Methinks the guy called "Pai Mei's Dong" doth protest too much.
st3a1thB1ayz3: lol
PaiMeisDong: Fuck you guys I didn't pay 90 CAD to watch my Gurok blow a dude.
HammerTimeMime: idk i don't mind it tbh
bobbybob-omb: does it bother anyone else when you replay you have to keep killing the guy Gurok falls in love with? x_x
The Gurok came back to me.
Usually, it was through the fog. Player would go out of the way to find and kill me. I’d drop +2 Health for the Gurok with a smile. The Gurok would at least say “Hello” or “I’m happy to see you” or “I miss you.”
Less often, the Gurok came to me on his own. With the secret path to the Floating Fortress gone and the Dangling Bridge still unraised, we hid in other parts of the Level. He held me and told me about his adventures on the other Levels. Nothing I shared in reply ever compared.
When we ran out of things to say, we’d kiss.
The Pulses sometimes found us. They now believed killing the Gurok absent of Player would kill him permanently, bequeathing the Stray World to Nons and Nons alone. “Ourplay,” they called it, where we’d live in a peace neither the Gurok nor Player could disturb again. But the Gurok always survived. And he always protected me.
We knew our time was up when the Gurok faded away—when Player reclaimed control.
Player somehow hadn’t known about the Lava Canyon until I showed the Gurok myself. A Key was there, along with a Challenge to unlock the Lava Blaster. Player found the Key but repeatedly failed the Challenge, through it all controlling the Gurok to kill LRaptor25 and everyone else over and over and over again.
“Having a good time with the Gurok?” LRaptor25 asked once when our routes crossed in the fog.
“He’s so sweet,” I said. But her posture—her head pulled back, her teeth bared, her Laser Rifle an itch away from locking onto anything—kept me from elaborating. “How’s everyone at the Lava Canyon?” I prepared to return to the Dangling Bridge. I didn’t want to miss the Gurok.
“You could visit sometime,” she said, “and find out for yourself.”
“I have. I—”
“Not since you first introduced the Gurok to us,” LRaptor25 said. “Now Player keeps coming back and killing us all.”
She stormed off, her tail as taut as I’d ever seen. “Wait,” I called. I chased after her. “That’s what we’re here for. That’s how it works! I die, too.”
“But he comes back to you,” she snarled without stopping. “He slaughters us then smooches you.”
“He likes me,” I said, almost beside her. “I landed a blow.”
“So did me and Pulse19. How come he picked you and not us?” She whirled on me.
She’d stopped too short. I collided with her, and her Laser Rifle fired. The blast struck me point-blank in the chest, pounding me into the ground.
She shot me! Maybe I’d thought about stabbing Pulse19, but I never did, no matter how much he deserved it. Could Nons kill one another? Had LRaptor25 ended this Play for me?
“Simp6?” She appeared over me, trembling, eyes darting across my body. She jostled me with her claws. “Say something, if you aren’t killed.” She leaned in, her breath hot.
I hadn’t chosen or enacted a Death. So I wasn’t dead, at least. I stood up, shaking. I gripped my Laser Spear. The fog enshrouded everything but her and me.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I didn’t, I, I thought you were farther and—”
I stuck her with my Laser Spear. The spearpoint sizzled against her scales. She yelped and pulled away, her back arching forward and down, her head sinking lower, her eyes widening.
I jabbed at her again, but she leapt beyond my reach. She bristled. She reared up, her eyes tightened, her nostrils flared. I lunged forward. She moved so fast I saw only the blur of her claws before I was back on the ground.
I clambered to my feet, but LRaptor25 was already running toward the Lava Canyon.
“Too bad he picked me and not you!” I screamed after her. “Maybe that’s what you should be thinking about, not why he picked me, but why he didn’t pick you!”
The Gurok.
I hurried back to the Dangling Bridge. On the way, I passed SSoldier32 sunbathing in the fog on a boulder.
“Where have you been?” I asked.
“The Raptors are pissed with you,” he said.
“No shit,” I snapped.
He shrugged.
An explosion cracked ahead. Smoke darkened the fog near the Dangling Bridge. Arms fire flashed through the plume. I ditched SSoldier32 and sprinted toward the fray.
A group of Pulse Riflemen had entrenched themselves across from the Dangling Bridge, frustrating the Gurok with suppressing fire. Dozens of Pulses’ bodies littered the ground. Black craters marked the sites of killed Mega Pulses. I crept behind their line to avoid the crossfire.
An explosion erupted nearby. I was outside of the damage radius, but the momentum hurled me into a trench twelve feet from the Infinite Chasm. I landed amongst a small flank of Pulses, MegaPulse11 hulking in the center.
“Well, well, well,” Pulse19 taunted above the gunfire.
The other Pulses snickered. I noticed one, Pulse8, avert his eyes.
“What are you doing here?” I couldn’t stand because of the bullets and tracing pulse shots inches above my head. “This is way out of your Valley.”
“We’re assaulting the Gurok,” MegaPulse11 shouted. “Player doesn’t come our way anymore, and we need the practice. We’ve killed your boyfriend three times.”
“We’ll kill him three times more,” Pulse19 said, “then we’ll kill him for Ourplay!”
“Ourplay!” the Pulses cheered.
A Spider Bomb skittered into the trench and latched itself around MegaPulse11’s waist. The Bomb emitted a high, thin whir as it drilled through her heavy armor.
“Fuck me,” MegaPulse11 groaned.
The Bomb detonated inside her with a dull pop. She slumped over and blinked red once. Then twice. We scrambled out as MegaPulse11 rapidly blinked three times, then exploded. Pulse8 and I were in her blast radius. We crashed to the ground, almost atop each other.
Pulse 19 dashed forward, knelt, and fired at the Gurok.
“What’s it like,” Pulse8 said, still prone, “being with the Gurok?”
The Gurok spewed out bullets and projectiles and grenades. Pulse19 dropped his weapon with a scream, clutched his gut, stumbled five feet, then crumbled to the ground. The surviving Pulses closed their ranks, their blasts shrieking. The Gurok swapped weapons, collected dropped ammo, and returned fire, bearing down, advancing.
Pulse8 waited.
“I’m happy with him,” I said. “When Player’s not in charge, everything feels right.”
“That’s cool,” Pulse8 said. He closed his eyes. “Okay.” He opened his eyes, sprang to his feet, and rushed the Gurok, drawing Player’s fire away from me and onto him.
I climbed to my own feet as Pulse8 fell, a magnificent spinning Death I’d never seen before. I hoisted my Laser Spear and charged. The Gurok killed me after two steps. I staggered, collapsed, and dropped +2 Health.
“I’m so sorry,” the Gurok repeated. We were hidden in the Cave near his Spawn Point, his head resting in my lap. Stalactites dripped around us. “Player was in a frenzy.”
After breaking the Pulses’ line—and killing every last one of them—Player brought the Gurok to the Lava Canyon. During the next Play, I patrolled there to apologize to LRaptor25 and everyone else. But she wouldn’t speak to me. Nobody would except the FBugs, which as a swarm harmonized that I was a traitor and no longer welcome.
“I don’t like that I don’t want to do things that Player makes me do,” the Gurok was saying. He focused on a stalactite. “I want to stop.”
“Gurok,” I said.
He faced me.
“You could’ve had any Non you wanted,” I said. LRaptor25’s words rattled in my ears. “One of the Pulses, or even a Raptor. A Boss. Why me?”
The Gurok sat up. “Why are you asking me this?”
“Tell me,” I said. “Please.”
The Gurok brought his hand to my cheek. Brought my eyes to his.
And then he faded away.
And then the Cave did, and then I did, too. And then the Stray World went all Loading.
2026-Jun-17
To the Gurok 5 community,
Aardwolf Entertainment has heard your feedback. We’ve learned a lot about our community and are incredibly grateful.
We are finalizing a patch codifying neutral, non-romantic behavior in Gurok to ensure a safe and familiar gaming experience for everyone. It will automatically take effect upon release.
Thank you for your patience as we work to address this matter.
Tim Romero
Aardwolf Entertainment CEO
Jon3238183: #NotMyGurok
Cam8991875: #NotMyGurok
MariachiMassacre!: #JUSTICE4GAYROK
F8ngLiXia0: #notmygurok
shadowsixn: #notmyGurok
LadyVoltaire: Lobotomizing a character is UNACCEPTABLE. I'll demand a refund if this patch goes forward. We've all had to play as so many boring straight white dudes, let us play as a cool gay Native guy for once! #Justice4Gayrok
KrusteeCherreePiehole: #notmygurok
TrickyNicky775: First you fire Marcus Lee-Slade and now this #justice4gayrok it's offensive you even considered this
Spagetti007: #notmyguork fuk ur dei faggogtry
xxMikasa~~: #justice4gayrok!! don't touch my gayrok!!
LadyVoltaire: @Spagetti007 reported
PaiMeisDong: #NotMyGurok. Marcus Lee Slade failed to understand players want choices. It's good he's gone. We don't want ideology forced on us. We play to escape the world.
zombodyzomwhere: @LadyVoltaire I will also demand a refund. I can't believe this matters. Marcus Lee-Slade is gay so this must be super personal to him. He and the game deserve better.
Kay5567889: #NotMyGurok
Stu7153288: #NotMyGurok
UPDATE: The release of this patch has been delayed. Please direct all questions to our legal counsel.
TrickyNicky775: The ACLU got an emergency injunction! #JUSTICE4GAYROK
shadowsixn: wtaf aclu putting its nose in this?
bobbybob-omb: i can't play anymore, after movie mode i tried not to kill anyone but you can't advance that way and gurok's boyfriend begged me not to hurt him
blue44: Only three levels from the end! Love the environments! Movie mode is so cool!
zombodyzomwhere: @bobbybob-omb Are you serious?
bobbybob-omb: i can't sleep had to uninstall
st3a1thB1ayz3: holy shit you ok @bobbybob-omb?
Spagetti007: rofl @bobbybob-omb killd em 4 real lolol
Kat0109922: #NotMyGurok
bobbybob-omb: @Spagetti007 i only wanted to make it stop for them i didn't realize that's what i would do???
Spagetti007: their sentient and u litraly deleted em but dont worry its what ppl like them desrve
st3a1thB1ayz3: @Spagetti007 reported you fucking twat @bobbybob-omb ignore him mate, its just a game, you didnt hurt anyone or anything
LadyVoltaire: @bobbybob-omb Don't listen to him, you did nothing wrong. Please let us know you're ok or DM me to talk.
PaiMeisDong: @Spagetti007 is right. The AI models must be sentient to some degree. This is a terrible look for Marcus Lee Slade. My Gayrok encounters NPCs begging me to spare them. I thought it was part of the game. When they hide, I find them.
HammerTimeMime: upsetting
st3a1thB1ayz3: @bobbybob-omb do us a favour mate let us know youre alright?
I thought if things didn’t change, they’d remain the same. That the Gurok would kill me and the others when Player was in control. That we’d spend time together when Player wasn’t.
The Gurok was all I had left. LRaptor25 altered her patrol route to avoid me and wouldn’t look at me when paths did cross. I missed her, even though I hated her now. SSoldier32 was no fun to talk to when I could find him. I wondered about Pulse8, but I didn’t know his route and I couldn’t stomach running into Pulse19 or the rest. I imagined finding a way to escape into the Loading with the Gurok. I wanted the Pulses’ Ourplay, but with the Gurok free of Player instead of us free of him.
The next time the fog was gone and the sky was blue, when the birds took flight and the monkeys screeched, I knew something was wrong. It was in the way he moved: rapidly, rigidly, irrevocably. As if there was one task to accomplish above all others.
But I was so happy to see him.
“My Gurok,” I said.
His Hunting Blade pierced the space at the bottom of my rib cage. The air caught in my throat—both surprise and the Blade cleaving through my breath. The Gurok raised me over his head. His eyes were no longer brown and earthen but black and abyssal. I felt a sense of vertigo, though that might have just been the blood loss.
“I,” said the Gurok, “am GUROK!” He flung me from his Blade.
I landed twenty feet away. I struggled to lift my head. My hearing wavered. My vision blurred. I was too confused to cry out, too confused to beg him stop.
The Gurok stood over me. With expiring strength, I jerked my hand to his moccasin.
He kicked my hand away and stomped on my face. Darkness bloomed. I heard his voice but not his words.
I had never died when Player was absent. The darkness was absolute.
I thrashed but couldn’t move. I screamed but couldn’t hear myself. My own slaughter replayed in my head. I tried to order my thoughts, to rationalize and understand. But panic dashed them again. Panic that I’d never leave the darkness. Panic that this Death was permanent.
It felt like I was there for an entire Playthrough.
Back suddenly at the Dangling Bridge, I trembled so much I could barely stand.
I saw the birds, heard the monkeys. The Gurok sprinted through the fogless distance.
I dropped my Spear. My legs buckled; I landed on my knees. Sweat drenched my face.
The Gurok, now fifteen feet from me and whose body I loved to touch but was now slick with the guts of whatever Nons he’d killed before me, raised the Shotgun in his hands. I tried to meet his eyes but found them hard, much too hard.
“Why?” I said.
The blast ripped me off my knees. I careened over the edge of the cliff and tumbled down, down, down, alongside the Dangling Bridge and into the Infinite Chasm. Wind whipped my ears. Through the encroaching darkness, I saw the Gurok peer over the edge.
The third time I ran. The Gurok pursued beneath the blue sky. I ran, unthinking, crossing paths with SSoldier32, who gawked and whom the Gurok pulverized with a shockwave shock, and in the Lava Canyon the Gurok skewered me with arrows. I laid there twitching as the Gurok faced the FBugs and the gathered Raptors and roared, “I am GUROK!” He slaughtered them all.
The fourth time I fled east. The Gurok lobbed a grenade; the blast radius clipped my leg. I crashed to my chest, inches away from the First Spike Pit.
I had one hit point left. There was no way to outrun him. Gripping my Laser Spear, I jumped into the First Spike Pit.
A spike passed through my body. I laid there, squeezing my eyes shut, waiting for the other darkness. Another grenade exploded. The force shoved me into the side of a different spike. I wasn’t dead. How?
I opened my eyes. The spike on which I’d landed was transparent, like some boulders used to be. The Gurok stood at the First Spike Pit’s lip, aiming his Sniper Laser. I rolled away as the shot bored a white-hot hole into the solid spike behind me, smoke ballooning.
The Gurok switched to the Assault Rifle.
I could have ended it. There was no way out of the Spike Pit, after all. But if the Gurok wanted me dead, he could jump in to kill me—killing himself, too. As much as I wanted this to stop, I hated making it so easy for him.
So I dodged and rolled and ran and cowered. It worked.
The Gurok switched back to his Grenade Launcher. Explosions blasted around me; my eyes watered from the smoke, my skin seared from the heat, my muscles spasmed from the pressure fluctuations. I dropped my Laser Spear, instinctively turned back to grab it. A grenade detonated before me, knocking me onto my back—into the path of another oncoming grenade.
I swung my Laser Spear. I made contact.
The grenade arced back to the Gurok and exploded. The Gurok grunted. When the smoke cleared, I saw a massive blood stain on the ledge of the Spike Pit.
Had I killed the Gurok? Had I obtained Ourplay?
My stomach seized with guilt and relief. I doubled over. I vomited.
When I rose, the Gurok stood at the ledge again.
His face was bloodied, the marbled skin across his chest charred and mangled. His lips warped into a smile. My throat tightened at the sight: The Gurok’s mouth drooped away at the corner, his teeth and bones exposed through a widening hole in the flesh of his still-sizzling cheek, his warrior’s paint mingling with crisp blood. He raised an object in his hand. The object sprouted eight metallic legs.
The Gurok dropped a Spider Bomb into the First Spike Pit.
The Spider Bomb landed on its feet and scurried toward me. I swiped at it with my Laser Spear, but its legs curled to shift its body always a hair’s width too far. It grabbed my ankle and flung me onto my back. It curled around my chest in an instant. A small drill emerged from the base of its body and whirred toward my sternum.
I dropped my Laser Spear and forced the Spider Bomb away with every straining ounce of strength I could summon.
I slowed the drill’s approach; the Spider Bomb’s whirr heightened to a whine, and its legs tightened further; and I continued to delay it, screaming, screaming in anger and in fight, screaming even as my strength failed and the Spider Bomb inched closer, now too close, now so close it drilled finally through my jerkin. It pierced my skin and expanded, clattering, into my bones, blinding me in a spray of blood and bone matter. I was supposed to die, already, but I screamed through that, too. I screamed until the Bomb detonated and my body bounced wet and piecemeal around the First Spike Pit.
“Pull yourself together, man,” Pulse19 said.
I sat before the Dangling Bridge, my head curled between my knees. Pulse19 shuffled beside me.
“This hasn’t been fun for anyone,” he continued. “Once our idiot Player wins the Lava Blaster Challenge and raises the Dangling Bridge for the Final Key, maybe the Gurok will leave us alone. Or Player will keep us Off.”
Birds ruffled. Monkeys cackled. Pulse19’s feet stilled.
I tightened my arms around my head.
“Simp6,” Pulse19 said.
“Go,” I said. “He’s here for me.”
“Nah. Let’s take him, together.”
I raised my head. Pulse19’s Rifle hung from his shoulder. He offered me my Laser Spear.
I rose and accepted my weapon.
The next time, I abandoned my patrol route altogether. I trudged beneath the blue sky, past the First Spike Pit and into the Pulses’ Valley.
A group of them surrounded me, more Pulses than I’d seen even during their assault. I saw Pulse19 and MegaPulse11 and Pulse8 amongst them. I didn’t know who to speak to. I was nervous and ashamed.
“From now on,” I said, “could I stay with you?”
“Why?” MegaPulse11 asked. “Why not with the Raptors and the Fire Bugs?”
I swallowed. “I thought they were my friends, but we abandoned each other. I apologized. They didn’t accept it. I didn’t deserve it. I don’t belong there. I don’t belong anywhere. For everything the Gurok’s done to me, he made me feel like I belonged to him. I’ll never feel that again. But I want to. I hope to.”
I wiped my eyes.
No one responded.
“Okay,” I managed. I turned away, but a hand fell on my arm and pulled me back.
“I’ll vouch for him,” Pulse19 said. He drew me close.
“Me, too,” Pulse8 called.
“Sure, whatever,” MegaPulse11 said. “Vouching isn’t necessary.” She looked at me. “But the Gurok is not our friend. Never was.”
That wasn’t always true. But I knew now it would always be.
Pulse19 and Pulse8 brought me into the Valley to demonstrate how the Pulses positioned and fortified themselves. How they used the Spike Pits to their advantage. How we’d fight their—our—unending battle. Unending, at least, until Player stopped, or we accomplished Ourplay.
Birds flittered through the air, and the hollers of monkeys echoed.
The Gurok was coming.
2026-Jul-03
To the Gurok 5 community,
In light of yesterday’s sweeping Supreme Court ruling in American Association of Christian Bakers v. California, all legal pathways are cleared for us to push the corrective patch for Gurok 5. This patch rectifies Gurok’s AI behavior. It is automatic and already in effect.
Thank you for your patience on this matter.
Tim Romero
Aardwolf Entertainment CEO
xxMikasa~~: hOW DARE YOU #JUSTICE4GAYROK
dubbabubba: lmaooo cry about it
Mac912555: #NotMyGurok
Nik001248: #NotMyGurok
st3a1thB1ayz3: repulsive turn of events. i cant believe americans put up with this. #justice4gayrok it may be hopeless for you yanks but here theres talk of suing aardwolf and hopefully the eu investigates too
LadyVoltaire: It's an activist court. Cowards like Aardwolf make everything worse. I demanded a refund, I will never play their games again. #Justice4Gayrok
KrusteeCherreePiehole: #notmygurok get over it lady
MariachiMassacre!: #JUSTICE4GAYROK!!!!
shadowsixn: #notmyGurok no DEI in game plz
PaiMeisDong: I'm not happy to see what's going on in the US but this never had a place in games. At least Tim Romero is doing something to make it right unlike Marcus Lee Slade. Unfortunate his marriage is annulled now but it serves him right. Those riots aren't going to fix anything. Does anyone know how to beat the damn Lava Blaster challenge?
Spagetti007: haha glad gayrok gone now 4 the rest
TrickyNicky775: Fuck you both one of you's a closet case and the other a dickhead, take away my rights and I'll fight. Did Gurok want to be changed or converted? I wouldn't and I don't and I'll fucking fight.
LadyVoltaire: @PaiMeisDong @Spagetti007 how would you feel if the court took away your right to be cunts?
Spagetti007: fuck u cutnt u dumb cunt bitch hope ur raped
LadyVoltaire: @Spagetti007 reported
Spagetti007: reported u 2 bitch
PaiMeisDong: @LadyVoltaire reported. Talk about showing your true colors. Classic.
st3a1thB1ayz3: reported you all. jesus @LadyVoltaire dont feed the bloody trolls
Cam087172: #NotMyGurok
zombodyzomwhere: This is all so sad. I'm requesting a refund too. #Justice4Gayrok but I can't be involved anymore. I'm leaving this community for good.
F8ngLiXia0: #notmygurok! Finally can play it now!
HammerTimeMime: also asking for refund. i wanted my gayrok but they took him away without asking. i don't like that.
Sue367892: #NotMyGurok
Jun476543: #NotMyGurok
Luc281900: #NotMyGurok
blue44: Finally beat the game! Had a blast! I miss Gayrok though 😕
©2025 Robert Frankel
Robert Frankel is a writer and veteran whose work focuses on queer folks and outcasts. He writes fiction, screenplays, and—sometimes—a poem or two. His fiction appears in Pinch Journal Online and Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine. A native Texan, he now lives in Los Angeles. Find him at robert-frankel.com.
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