Image: Digixart, Ravenscourt via HGG
My name is Gibson Vasela. I am a freelance writer who has been playing video games for almost 20 years now. I play all kinds of games, but I especially love immersive sims and RPGs.
Reviewed by Austin Carroll
Life is Strange is a game series beloved by many for being a narrative-driven experience that forces players to make difficult choices that impact not only themselves but the characters they meet. The original entry features what many people consider to be one of the best stories written in recent years. If you’ve finished the rest of the series, you’re probably looking for more games like Life is Strange to fill that hollow in your life. Luckily, we can help.
In this article, we’re going to go over our picks for the top 10 games like Life is Strange, telling you what we loved about ’em and why you’ll love ’em too.
10 Best Games Like Life is Strange, Ranked Least to Most Similar
With that introduction done with, let’s jump right into the article!
What Remains of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finch is a beloved, story-driven game. It’s about a girl who goes to explore an old, abandoned house belonging to her family. She and the rest of the Finch family are suffering from a strange curse that causes them to die in odd ways.
You spend most of the game exploring the old, abandoned house, trying to piece together what happened to the Finch family. This will be broken up into various short stories detailing the deaths of each of the family members.
These sequences are really, really well done. Each one has its own art style, feel, and gameplay mechanics, leading to a really memorable experience each time you put together another piece of the puzzle. The game does not have any narrative choice like what you find in Life is Strange, but it does have a similar tone and art style. Because of this, I recommend you at least check it out if you loved the story of Life is Strange.
Gone Home
Gone Home is a short and simple first-person exploration game. You arrive at your family’s house late at night, but your family is nowhere to be found. You’ll explore the house, searching through all the different rooms to uncover just what went on here and why everyone is absent. The story is mostly told through notes and narration by your character’s sister.
The game lacks meaningful choice but makes up for it with a focused story that is both engaging and touching. This is a really great LGTBQ game as well, so this might be right up your alley if you’re interested in that sort of thing. Overall, this is a short but very sweet experience that I highly recommend you pick up if you ever see the game go on sale.
Firewatch
Firewatch was a really memorable game that really made waves back when it was first released. The story follows a man who took a job as a fire watch in a national park, and quickly learns that something is amiss.
The game is played from a first-person perspective and has a huge emphasis on exploration. One thing I really love is how the game doesn’t use objective markers, forcing you to interact with the world and look at your surroundings to determine where you are on the map.
There is a little bit of choice when it comes to dialogue options and what happens in the game, but for the most part, the story is pretty linear. The ending can change somewhat, but it’s still pretty much the same. That being said, the narrative is really well done, with a touching message about what happens when you try to talk away from your problems instead of facing them head-on.
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium may seem like a very different game from Life is Strange, but the two have more in common than you may think. Both are story-focused games where will need to make various different choices on how you interact with the world and its characters. These choices can be both positive and negative – giving you a wide variety of consequences for both your character and the world.
This game is different in a few ways, however. The most notable difference is the fact that this is an RPG. I don’t see this as a negative thing, however, unless you really don’t like RPGs.
Even if you don’t normally care much for RPGs, this is still one of the best games to play if you loved the amount of narrative choice and consequences present in Life is Strange. There is a staggering amount of different approaches you can take to progress in the game, and it also has a really unique premise for a sci-fi game too!
Night in The Woods
Onto my personal favorite game on this list, Night in The Woods! This is a 2D platformer where you play as Mae Borowski, a college dropout who has returned to her hometown. While there, she connects with old friends, battles her personal issues, and unravels a conspiracy that could shake the entire town.
While the game is a platformer, don’t expect anything too intense or challenging. It’s very much a story-first game that relies on its narrative and characters to keep you entertained.
There are not as many choices in this game as there were in Life is Strange, but that’s fine. The story and atmosphere of it more than make up for it. Night in The Woods has some of the most memorable characters out of any video game I’ve played, and I can’t adequately express just how much you should check this game out.
Oxenfree
Oxenfree is next on this list of games like Life is Strange. It’s a 2D game with a really beautiful and unique art style. This is a psychological horror game in which you’ll explore a spooky, mysterious island, interacting with various ghosts and ghouls while making important choices that influence where the story goes. If you’re a big fan of horror games, this is a great pick.
Gameplay-wise, I’d call it a walking simulator. You’ll explore environments from a 2D perspective, engage in dialogue with various characters, and make choices about where the conversation flows. If you love games with a lot of reading and character interactions, this one is a must-get.
The Walking Dead
Set in the same universe as the hit TV show, Telltale’s The Walking Dead is a narrative-driven game in which you play the role of Lee, a university professor turned survivor, who finds himself watching over a young girl named Clementine during an apocalypse.
The game is set over 5 chapters, and in each one, you’ll need to make gripping decisions that will radically impact the story and how you’re treated by the characters around you. You’ll be forced by the game to make a lot of interesting moral choices, which means there are a lot of memorable moments here.
It’s easily one of my favorite narratives in a game, and there’s a reason why this game is so beloved even to this day, well over a decade after it was first released. If you end up loving the first game, then rejoice, as it spawned a series of Walking Dead games following the same story.
The Wolf Among Us
The Wolf Among Us is widely regarded as one of the BEST games made by Telltale Studios. If you’ve ever played it, then chances are you agree.
It’s an urban fantasy game in which you play as a sheriff of a small community in New York City inhabited by various creatures from fables and fairy tales. Much like other games from Telltale Studios, you’ll be making lots of different choices throughout The Wolf Among Us, with consequences coming back to haunt you for better or worse. It’s a really great mystery drama that you’ll love if you enjoy thrillers.
Many people consider this to be not only one of Telltale Studios’ best games but one of the best choose-your-own adventure-style games out there. The story is incredible, and with A Wolf Among Us 2 set to come out in the future, there has never been a better time to play.
Road 96
Next up is Road 96, a choose-your-own-adventure game set during the summer of 1996. In the game, you are traveling through the desert on a road trip through the fictional, authoritarian county of Petria. Along the way, you’ll make lots of interesting choices that determine where you go on your journey and what will happen to the characters you meet along the way.
The game is technically a rogue-lite, as the scenarios you encounter occur in a semi-random order depending on how far you travel and what encounters you’ve had so far. You’ll also have to scavenge for supplies and plan out how far you’ll travel, but the game’s main focus is still on its narrative like Life is Strange.
Most importantly, regardless of whether your initial character’s journey ends in success or failure, you’ll eventually take on the perspective of another character setting off on their own journey as the situation in Petria progressively worsens. As for how many times this happens, well… it’ll ultimately depend on your decisions.
We would like to go into more details about the story, but it’s really something you just have to experience for yourself. If you love games with multiple endings, you’ll surely love this game.
Tell Me Why
Tell Me Why is our final entry on our list. This game was made by the very same people who brought us Life is Strange, so really it’s no surprise that it made this list.
This game is also a choose-your-own-adventure-style game (unsurprisingly similar to Life is Strange), where you’ll make choices that will influence where the story goes and what endings you get. But since you’re reading this article here, that’s probably not an issue for you.
“While I didn’t find the story as emotional as Life is Strange, don’t mistake that for me saying it’s bad. Far from it, in fact; the story is fantastic, and you’ll find yourself engrossed in trying to piece together the truth of what happened to the twins you play as and coming to terms with who they are after so many years.
Join the High Ground!
We hope that you found this article covering the top 10 games like Life is Strange informative! Did any of your favorite games make this list, or is there a game we missed that you think deserves to be here?
Be sure to let us know down below! And make sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter for more rankings just like this one.
Happy gaming!
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