13 Games Like Life is Strange
Our selection of graphic adventure games like Life Is Strange offers more interactive dramas filled with story, unique characters and puzzles.
Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure first made available throughout 2015 and later expanded with additional titles that take place in the same world with similar mechanics. In the original Life Is Strange adventure players follow the adventures of a photography student named Maxine Caulfield in a fictitious American town known as Arcadia Bay. Maxine is anything but a normal student though with the ability to rewind time which serves as the primary game mechanic, leading to repeated butterfly effects along with broader issues of memory and identity.
Played in a third person perspective players explore the fictional Arcadia Bay while interacting with objects, NPCs and exploring the various dialogue trees available that influence the story. Players will also encounter a number of quests which require basic puzzle solving or item fetching by utilising Maxine’s rewind ability although the focus of Life is Strange is on your story decisions. Players are constantly faced with these small and large story decisions that impact both the short and long term story direction.
The games like Life Is Strange collected below offer a similar experience with an emphasis on setting, atmosphere and character development throughout a story of player choice.
Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit)
Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit outside of North America) is a cinematic adventure with thriller and paranormal elements originally launched in 2005 and later remastered for modern platforms in 2016. Controlling a number of characters during the story players will be able to guide the pathway of this interactive story. Indigo Prophecy is set in New York City where a string of strange and bloody murders have recently taken place and currently under investigation by the police force. With all of these...[Read Review]
Oxenfree
Expanding out into the world of the supernatural Oxenfree offers a unique mystery for players to uncover across a large number of game platforms which slowly expanded following the initial release success. Marking the first game from Night School Studio’s their creation attempts to deliver a highly story driven game with paranormal elements without the use of cutscenes in a 2.5D game world. In Oxenfree players take on the role of Alex who is a teenager on a visit to the local island with h...[Read Review]
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Horror and adventure are blended together in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter with a story of mystery in an open world environment that encourages you to explore and collect clues while you investigate the disappearance of Ethan following a brutal murder. Originally for Windows the Redux game version expanded the list of available platforms alongside graphic enhancements and some minor gameplay tweaks. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter follows the adventure of Paul Prospero who specialises in paranorma...[Read Review]
Beyond: Two Souls
Beyond: Two Souls explores the potential that an interactive drama blended with action and adventure can achieve. Originally as a PlayStation 3 exclusive and now available on PlayStation 4 and Windows the story follows Jodie Holmes (voiced by Ellen Page) as one of the main playable protagonists alongside the unique incorporeal entity known only as Aiden who has been connected to Jodie since birth. This strange power quickly alienated Jodie from her foster family and in turn ended up being raised...[Read Review]
The Wolf Among Us
The Wolf Among Us is one of Telltale Games popular episode interactive adventures split across 5 episodes. While not quite as popular as the larger franchise interactive adventure adaptations like Back To The Future, Borderlands and Walking Dead it’s still one of the fan favourite productions from the studio. Unfortunately, due to the shutdown of Telltale the planned sequel was never completed leaving The Wolf Among Us as the sole edition in the series. Drawing inspiration from Bill Willin...[Read Review]
What Remains of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finch combines a number of strange stories about a single family together into an adventure game of art and mystery. From the same development team that brought you The Unfinished Swan as their debut title you’ll find a highly unique and humbling experience that will take players several hours to uncover. Centre stage of the story in What Remains of Edith Finch is the 17 year old Edith Finch who is also the last surviving member of her family. Returning to her family ...[Read Review]
Until Dawn
Until Dawn is a PlayStation exclusive addition to the interactive drama genre which features a number of survival horror elements. Promising a twist filled adventure with many key decisions left to the players will encounter a number of distinct characters that each have their own personalities to explore while also dealing with the impacts of the butterfly effect. Alongside these story elements players will use the third person camera perspective to identify clue s in the environment that can h...[Read Review]
To the Moon
To the Moon is an adventure game released in 2011 by Freebird Games and explores the story of two doctors on a mission to fulfil a dying man’s last wish. Having released several other games in this story driven RPG Maker niche players can expect to find a refined story telling process with To the Moon being one of the most well received of Freebird Game releases and containing dozens of hours of content. To the Moon uses a unique story premise that revolves around a technology that can cre...[Read Review]
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is a point and click video gamer released in 2007 exclusively for the Nintendo DS platform which lets players explore the mysterious origins of a strange hotel that is said to be able to grant wishes to those that stay in a particular room. The bulk of this story adventure takes place in a fictional hotel located located deep in the heart of Los Angeles in the United States and is known Hotel Dusk. Playing as former experienced detective Kyle Hyde who has has left his New Yo...[Read Review]
Heavy Rain
Heavy Rain takes you through an interactive drama that draws inspiration from film noir thrillers the game is full of mystery with a serial killer at the heart of the plot that you jump into. Originally a PlayStation 3 exclusive title released in 2010 the game was subsequently released on PlayStation 4 in 2016 and Windows in 2019. Heavy Rain lets you experience four main characters as you advance through the various game chapters with each of them having a deep background story and their own mot...[Read Review]
Quantum Break
Based around the idea of time travel and control of time, Quantum Break employs a unique story telling landscape aiming to combine a TV like show design with a video game experience. The result is a dramatic science fiction story filled with action and adventure while players command Jack Joyce through an array of gunfights and story plot points in third person view. In addition Jack Joyce grants players the ability to manipulate time right from the start of your adventure after a failed experim...[Read Review]
Murdered: Soul Suspect
Solve the mystery of your own murder in Murdered: Soul Suspect, a unique and ghostly experience that lets you piece together the clues of your own demise one by one. With its unique premise Murdered: Soul Suspect stands out in the story and thematic video game genre and is available across Windows, Xbox and PlayStation platforms. Set in the town of Salem, Massachusetts the game centres around the Bell Killer, a relentless serial murderer who just claimed his lasted victim that just so happens to...[Read Review]
Kentucky Route Zero
As far as indie episodic adventure games go Kentucky Route Zero has one of the most surreal settings on offer in the genre in years. From the independent studio of Cardboard Computer the game exists thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign for the project. Sold as an episodic adventure which released in parts the experience across the five acts is primarily a point and click adventure game. Split into these five acts with the first released in 2013 and the conclusion released in 2020 the seri...[Read Review]