Tell Me Why is one of the best story-driven games around. It tackles personal concepts such as identity and past trauma. However, that doesnât mean other games arenât at least similar to it. Five games stand out for being similar to Tell Me Why, whether because of the story or characters. Hereâs information on all five games, including where to get them for cheap.
Life is Strange
Few games are on the same level of narrative excellence as Tell Me Why. However, Life is Strange can go band for band, primarily because itâs made by the same developer. The game follows Max Caulfield as the protagonist. She reconnects with an old friend when a missing classmate pulls them both into something neither expected.
The game has the supernatural element of letting Max rewind time within a short window. Players can rewind bad decisions to change certain decisions if they feel like they want another chance. This twist is a core part of the gameâs narrative and gameplay, ensuring players are seated for its entirety. This is a pretty old game, so you should be able to comfortably find it for a low price by using platforms such as DealNest.
Detroit: Become Human
Detroit: Become Human came out on the PS4 in 2018 and PC in 2019. The game highlights a world where androids do most of the city's labor with no legal standing. Three such androids are the main characters.
Connor is on the police force, helping track down androids that have started acting outside their parameters. Kara escapes from her owner alongside a young girl and goes on the run. Markus gets pushed into leading a resistance movement for the androids. Their storylines mostly run separately but intersect a few times.
The choices in this game have heavy consequences. Missed evidence, a timed dialogue pick, or a confrontation that goes wrong can all cut off story branches or kill main characters permanently. After each chapter, the game shows a full decision tree of every choice made in that section. This game has a lot of replayability, and the characters feel like genuinely grounded individuals that you canât help but root for.
Firewatch
Firewatch came out in 2016. It's set in Wyoming during the summer of 1989, with the protagonist named Henry working on a fire lookout post on his own. He took the job partly to get away from some problems at home that you gradually learn as you play the game. The only person you meet at first is Henryâs supervisor, Delilah, who uses a walkie-talkie to contact you. It doesnât take long until odd things start turning up around the tower.
While Firewatch has more gameplay than Tell Me Why, itâs still a narrative-driven game. It plays in the first-person perspective and takes place across a stretch of the Wyoming wilderness. Throughout the game, youâre expected to make a bunch of decisions that determine your final relationship with your supervisor. While the overall plot isnât too flexible, your decisions still matter in the grand scheme of things.
Oxenfree
Night School Studio's Oxenfree came out in 2016. It follows Alex and a small group of friends who take a trip to an abandoned military island. Alex brings a radio along, accidentally tunes into the wrong frequency, and opens an odd rift. The island has a strange history, which starts getting obvious as the player progresses.
Players can respond, go quiet, or interrupt during its many conversations, but the scene keeps moving either way. Alex's radio, which started it all, can tune into frequencies that tie into the gameâs puzzles. Conversations may seem unimportant, but they determine the ending you get.
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series
Telltale's Walking Dead ran from 2012 to 2018 across several seasons. The first entry has you fill the shoes of Lee as he looks after a young girl named Clementine while a zombie outbreak happens. Later seasons shift to Clementine as the main character, though she isnât always the main protagonist. Most of what the game is actually about is trust, resource conflicts, and decisions where no option is clean.
The mechanics are light. Players move through environments, talk to people, and occasionally work through simple puzzles. What it's really tracking is behavior. Characters remember how the player treated them earlier, and it shows later. A person whom the player helped shows up when things get hard. By the end of the series, Clementine becomes a reflection of the playerâs choices throughout all of the seasons.
This collection comes with multiple games, and it recently went for a historically low price. To ensure you donât miss it the next time it happens, we recommend you compare Steam key prices and keep an eye on the gameâs price.
Conclusion
All five of these games are fairly old and are available on platforms such as Steam. Whether you buy them from Steam or you get a Steam key from a different platform, just be sure to do the required research to ensure you pay the lowest possible price.
