This game, I never expected to pull from storage, but the Tales of the Valiant universe model of the Labyrinth is eerily similar to the infinite, connected worlds concept they present here. The Strange is a strange game, where you can play someone from Earth, an alien, or someone in a fictional universe who "wakes up" and realizes their whole life has been this strange simulation, and things are not really as they seem. You can visit or be any character from any game, movie, TV show, book, or any other product of imagination.
The game is truly "out there" in terms of its scope and the odd, between-the-cracks, strange universe of aliens that inhabit these realms and the forces present in the setting.
The Labyrinth is like that in structure, minus the aliens and between parts - this is just the connected spaces and pathways. But the concept of strange, interconnected, vastly different, and sometimes worlds from fiction are the same. Sometimes these are entire game worlds from other games, such as a D&D world or Pathfinder's Golarion. They will all follow the "home system" of Tales of the Valiant (or 5E), but the concept of interconnected settings through a strange and shifting system of pathways is the same.
Even the fact that worlds can be dreamed into existence is the same, though with the Strange, there is usually a world age involved where they get larger over time (or not). In the Labyrinth, worlds can be destroyed, appear, disappear at will, or stay around forever. They can be of any size. They can just contain a favorite adventure. The inhabitants of these places typically don't know they are in some sort of interconnected world.
Where the Strange comes in is that they have a fantastic system for designing interconnected worlds, worlds from fiction, and other worlds that follow all sorts of different rules. In some worlds, magic may not work normally, or at all. Some worlds have mad science. Some worlds have psionics. Some worlds exist with strange physics, or a set of rules that do not let modern devices work at all.
Recursions (this is what they call worlds) can have special traits, or even grant foci (special powers) to everyone inside the world, such as a world that grants superpowers. You could have a world where reality gives everyone magic spells and powers.
If you get deep into the Labyrinth and its worlds, picking up a copy of The Strange as a companion book to use for creating worlds is a great idea.
The Strange uses the Cypher System as its resolution engine, and everything is abstracted and given one number as its "power level" - like you may say a monster is Power 5 (but it defends on a 6 and attacks on a 4), and the system figures the rest out. So the system can model longswords and laser rifles just as easily as it does orcs and walking sci-fi battle walkers. In 5E, you will need to create monsters with the ToV system, and then approximate strange weapons and technological items.
The Cypher System is truly an elegant and cool system that can do anything, but with a heavy layer of abstraction. 5E is 5E, very specific and with special case rules everywhere, and you're buying books to fill those gaps. In Cypher System, you can just wing everything and have it work out fine. A heavy laser cannon is a heavy weapon that knocks 2 points of defense off its target if it does not have a "heavy armor" trait. I made all that up, but it works just fine in the game.
The Cypher System is one of those "desert island games" that can entertain you endlessly.
In the Strange, you may step into a world or reality, and it alters your powers and appearance to match what the world is. Your party could be dressed as fantasy heroes in a Medieval world in one reality, step into another, and then become gangsters, private eyes, and gun molls in the 1920s. Your wizard's magic would be converted into powers that match reality, such as those of a mad scientist (if the world supports that).
I wish this game sold better and was more well-known; it is quite the mind-altering trip to play and very fun if your game master is deeply into pop culture.
But using The Strange as an assistant to create worlds and create ideas for the Labyrinth is a great idea. It gets you thinking about what special rules and laws of physics each world has, outside of the standard ToV and 5E rules, and a world based on a science fiction epic or sitcom will have different physics and rules, where some things can and cannot happen in those worlds.
Now, the concepts of creating "world attributes, traits, and foci" in Tales of the Valiant are outside the system, as the game's "reality model" is "everyone acts like a 5E character and the 5E rules are the rules of everywhere in the Labyrinth." If you are a level 14 rogue, you will be one in any world in the Labyrinth, and nothing will touch your powers that much. The base ToV rules will be the same everywhere, unless GM Fiat takes over.
In The Strange, these worlds can change you, introduce special rules, limit magic, give you powers, alter your powers into new forms, or mess with physics. Mitch Buchanan can meet Michael Knight. You can stumble into Alice in Wonderland, and things work in strange ways there. You can visit a world filled with robot life only on a dying world, and everyone in the party becomes robots that are seen to live in that world. You can stumble into GTA 5. You could be playing heroes in the Forgotten Realms. You could find yourself in Conan, Tarzan, or John Carter's Mars. You can care about the interconnected places and plots, or not.
These are cool concepts, worth exploring.
Again, we can do so much more when we abandon the "Wizards' IP" and not limit ourselves to their ideas being superior to yours. Gothic horror is a vast world, encompassing multiple places and being much more diverse, not just Ravenloft.
Break your mind free of the D&D dungeon, and there is so much more out there to do, and games that let you express your imagination much more vividly.
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