Best Games Like Life Is Strange

Life Is Strange is revered for its episodic storytelling and choice-driven gameplay in which players control different characters with special powers as they try to navigate complex relationships.

Even though the series spans several games, if you’re in the market for more interactive dramas like Life Is Strange, you’ve come to the right place.

In this list, we’ll highlight the best games like Life Is Strange to play in 2024, including adventure games like Life Is Strange and the best PC games like Life Is Strange.

We’ll be updating this list in the future with new titles, so make sure to check back and let us know if we missed any of your favorite games similar to Life Is Strange!

Related:Best Story-Driven Games 2023Best Time Travel Games 2023Best Games With Multiple Endings 2023

To get started, we’re recommending Alan Wake, a cerebral single-player game about a writer who sets out to investigate his wife’s mysterious disappearance.

His investigation puts him face to face with a host of supernatural horrors called the Taken, a dark force that has taken over the bodies of humans, animals, and even objects.

While the game puts a bigger emphasis on combat and other survival horror elements not present in the Life Is Strange series, both do a great job at getting you invested in their worlds, characters, and stories.

The best way to play the original Alan Wake in 2024 is through the remastered version, which includes enhanced graphics and two DLC expansions.

If you’re familiar with the Skyrim modding scene, then there’s a good chance you’ve come across the original mod that would go on to become The Forgotten City.

Spearheaded by lead developer and writer Nick Pearce, the game takes place in an alternate historical Roman Empire where citizens are subjected to “the Golden Rule.”

You play as a mysterious traveler that travels back in time to stop the rule from being broken and uncover the mystery behind it.

Much like Life Is Strange, the game uses time travel as both a game mechanic and narrative device while exploring the connection between humanity and laws.

Syberia: The World Before is the latest installment in the ongoing choose-your-own-adventure series and takes place in 1937 and 2004 in the Syberian cities of Vaghen and Taiga.

Split into two arcs, the first sees you taking on the role of Dana Roze, a 17-year-old with dreams of becoming a pianist when her future is threatened by a fascist threat known as the Brown Shadow.

In the alternate tale, you embody Kate Walker, a lady who discovers herself ensnared in a forsaken salt mine and must struggle to endure.

Aside from the fact that both games center on female protagonists, The World Before and Life Is Strange share many similarities in regards to choice-driven gameplay and storytelling.

Next up is Tell Me Why, an interactive drama that comes from the same developer as Life Is Strange, Dontnod Entertainment.

The story focuses on twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan as they discover they share a supernatural bond that allows them to revisit old memories and uncover the truth behind their troubled past.

Throughout the game, the player is tasked with making decisions for Tyler and Alyson that will affect their relationships as well as the outcome of the story.

This is very similar to the Life Is Strange format and some fans even speculate that both games take place in the same universe despite not being officially part of the same franchise.

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is another game created by Dontnod that takes place in the same universe as Life Is Strange, roughly three years after the events of the original.

In it, players meet Chris, an over-imaginative 9-year-old boy who likes to escape reality and go on fantastical adventures as his alter ego, Captain Spirit.

Gameplay is extremely similar to that of Life Is Strange and sees you solving puzzles, interacting with other characters, and making choices that impact the outcome of the story.

Captain Spirit is billed as a free demo set in the Life Is Strange universe and includes connections to characters and story elements from Life Is Strange 2.

If you’re a fan of interactive dramas, particularly those of the horror variety, then Supermassive Games is likely a name you recognize.

Best known for games like Until Dawn, the studio has since released several installments in their new horror anthology series, The Dark Pictures Anthology.

The entry we’ve chosen to highlight here is House of Ashes, which centers on a squad of Special Forces soldiers on a mission to retrieve weapons of mass destruction before stumbling upon something far more sinister.

Like Life Is Strange, the game puts you in control of different characters and forces you to make tough choices that affect the story as well as their relationships and ultimate survival.

Before you check out House of Ashes or any of the other Dark Pictures installments, consider going back to Supermassive’s claim to fame, Until Dawn.

In it, players follow a group of young adults as they venture to a seemingly isolated snow-capped cabin to celebrate the anniversary of their friends’ deaths.

Throughout the night, increasingly strange events start to happen, prompting the group to split up and investigate the cabin and surrounding forest.

From there, things continue spiraling out of control as players are put in increasingly harrowing situations where every decision could mean life or death.

Road 96 is another choice-driven adventure game that shares many resemblances with Life Is Strange while throwing procedural generation into the mix.

In it, you take on the role of a young hitchhiker trying to make their way across a dystopian country solely by relying on the kindness of strangers.

Along the way, you’ll come in contact with randomized characters, locations, and events that will shape your journey and reveal more about the world.

While the game’s narrative chops may not be on the same level as Life Is Strange, Road 96 will still scratch that choose-your-own-adventure itch.

Even though it’s a 2D game, Oxenfree has numerous similarities to Life Is Strange and other interactive dramas referenced on this list.

Its story takes place on a secluded island where vacationing teen Alex, her stepbrother, and their friends get the idea to test out a local myth.

See, legend has it that tuning a radio to specific frequencies allows the user to make contact with supernatural forces and bring them into our world.

As you would expect, things quickly turn sideways and Alex and company are forced to explore the island to uncover its mysterious history and save their relationships.

Night in the Woods is another 2D adventure game that tackles supernatural mysteries while still including plenty of funny, lighthearted moments.

In it, you take on the role of Mae Borowski, a 20-something-year-old who returns to the small mining town she once called home in hopes of reconnecting with old friends while avoiding her problems.

Like Life Is Strange, the game tackles themes concerning mental health, friendship, and accepting others for who they are.

Additionally, many of the in-game scenarios have branching paths that cause the story to play out differently based on Mae’s actions and dialogue choices.

Switching back to games with 3D graphics, Firewatch is a critically-acclaimed adventure title that takes place during the summer of 1989 in the Wyoming wilderness.

You play as a man named Henry who decides to trade in his urban lifestyle to become a fire lookout in a national park where he starts to observe strange, seemingly unexplainable events.

Armed with various tools and a handheld radio, he sets out to explore the wilderness in search of answers with support from his supervisor and friend Delilah.

Similar to Life Is Strange, the game does a great job at using choice-driven dialogue to create realistic-feeling relationships between its characters.

Our next recommendation to Life Is Strange fans is Quantum Break, a cinematic action game from Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy Games.

In it, players are introduced to Jack Joyce, a man on a mission to prevent his universe’s timeline from collapsing using supernatural abilities.

The story doubles as a live-action television series with certain events explained in further detail, which can require a bit more of a commitment than your average game.

While it has little in common with Life Is Strange in terms of narrative, both do an excellent job at implementing time-based superpowers.

The Wolf Among Us is often regarded as one of the most outstanding Telltale games and does a fine job building on its story, setting, and characters inspired by Bill Willingham’s Fables comic series.

The story is told from the perspective of fairytale-villain-turned-deputy Bigby Wolf as he comes to grips with his new role and tries to reconcile with his dark past as the Big Bad Wolf.

Along with overcoming his inner demons, Bigby finds himself at the center of a brutal murder threatening the balance of Fabletown’s already shaky social structure.

Much like Life Is Strange, the game offers no shortage of relatable characters and dynamic dialogue that adapts to the player’s choices.

If you’re looking for more adventure games like Life Is Strange that center on female protagonists, look no further than the beloved walking sim Gone Home.

In it, you take on the role of a young woman named Katie as she returns to her family home from overseas only to find it empty.

Surrounded by moving boxes housing all of her family’s personal effects, Katie begins exploring the house’s familiar halls and rooms looking for clues.

Along the way, she finds herself taking a stroll down memory lane as she recounts pivotal memories that now define her and discover more about her family’s past.

What Remains of Edith Finch is another walking sim-style adventure game with a female lead that will appeal to fans of Life Is Strange.

It centers on the titular Edith Finch soon after realizing she’s the last remaining member of her eccentric family and its perceived curse that causes all but one relative to die under mysterious circumstances.

Longing for connection, Edith travels to her now-abandoned family home to see what’s left of it and ends up finding more than she bargained for.

Similar to Life Is Strange, the game puts a lot of stock into developing characters’ relationships and using time manipulation to tell its story.

When it comes to interactive dramas, no name is as recognized in the gaming industry as Quantic Dreams, best known for games like Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.

The latter of which we’ve chosen to highlight here for the fact it features a female protagonist and supernatural plot elements.

In it, we follow a young woman named Jodie Holmes as she’s guided by a mysterious force within to explore the past and use her powers to shape the future.

Gamers who enjoy the Life Is Strange series will find themselves enamored with Beyond Two Souls’ tight-knit cast, dialogue-driven gameplay, and compelling story.

The second Quantic Dreams game we suggest Life Is Strange fans check out is Detroit: Become Human, a sci-fi adventure game set in a future where technology has spilled over into every facet of life.

In it, players guide three androids from vastly different backgrounds as they live a life of servitude and experience traumatic events that completely reshape their view of humans and themselves.

Depending on the player’s choices, each character’s story can spin out in several ways and even come to a sudden halt if no action is taken during certain sequences.

All of these possibilities total for about forty unique endings with slight variations depending on certain decisions that cause some androids to live and some to die.

Our final recommendation for games like Life Is Strange is The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, which casts you as a private detective with the ability to visualize crimes long after they’ve taken place.

Such supernatural power proves useful during the detective’s latest case: investigating the disappearance of a missing child named in the town of Red Creek Valley, Wisconsin.

Players are tasked with piecing together evidence and recreating key moments leading up to Ethan’s disappearance that will shine a light on the town itself.

Like Life Is Strange, the game uses time as both a plot device and game mechanic that allows you to solve puzzles and advance the story.