Games Like Life is Strange: Before the Storm

Episode 1 now FREE! Life is Strange is an award-winning and critically acclaimed episodic adventure game that allows the player to rewind time and affect the past, present and future.

Why similar: Episodic 24.4% ★, Great Soundtrack 21.9%, Choices Matter 14.4%, Story Rich 13%, Female Protagonist 9.2%

Why You'll Like It: Max and Chloe's original story delivers the same choice-driven teen drama, intimate small-town atmosphere, and music-heavy emotional storytelling that make Before the Storm work.

Alex Chen hides her 'curse': the psychic power of Empathy, the ability to absorb the emotions of others. When her brother dies in a so-called accident, Alex must embrace her power to find the truth.

Why similar: Choices Matter 24.1%, Female Protagonist 16.1%, Story Rich 14.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.7%, Multiple Endings 7.2%

Why You'll Like It: It keeps the series' focus on empathy, relationships, and walk-and-talk exploration, with another emotional, choice-led story and standout licensed soundtrack.

Embark on a new narrative journey by the creators of Life is Strange. Film your summer of 1995 and create memories of a lifetime with your new friends. 27 years later, confront the dark secrets that made you all promise to never speak again after that fateful summer.

Why similar: Episodic 26.6% ★, Choices Matter 18.8%, Female Protagonist 14.1%, Story Rich 12.4%, Multiple Endings 6.1%

Why You'll Like It: From the original Life is Strange creators, it centers on intense female friendship, memory, and coming-of-age drama with the same dreamy, mixtape-like vibe.

After a tragic incident, brothers Sean and Daniel Diaz run away from home. Fearing the police, and dealing with Daniel's new telekinetic power, the boys head to Mexico. Each stop on their journey brings new friends and new challenges.

Why similar: Episodic 23.2% ★, Choices Matter 22.5%, Great Soundtrack 20.2%, Story Rich 15.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 4.2%

Why You'll Like It: Its road-trip format is broader, but it shares the franchise's conversational choices, emotional character arcs, and strong soundtrack-first presentation.

Tell Me Why is the multi-award winning episodic adventure game from Dontnod Entertainment in which twins use their supernatural bond to discover the truth of their troubled past.

Why similar: Episodic 37.5% ★, Choices Matter 19.9%, Story Rich 12.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 7.2%, LGBTQ+ 4.8%

Why You'll Like It: Dontnod's supernatural mystery leans hard into close relationships, small-town secrets, and meaningful dialogue choices in a very Life is Strange-like structure.

When Max Caulfield finds her friend Safi dead in the snow, she tears open the way to a parallel timeline. Here, Safi is still alive - and still in danger! With her new power to Shift between two timelines – can Max solve and prevent the same murder?

Why similar: Choices Matter 23.6%, Female Protagonist 16.8%, Story Rich 14.1%, Choose Your Own Adventure 12%, Great Soundtrack 7.8%

Why You'll Like It: Another Max Caulfield story built around branching conversations, emotional consequences, and supernatural mystery, even if it skews more thriller than punk romance.

Oxenfree is a supernatural thriller about a group of friends who unwittingly open a ghostly rift. You are Alex, and you’ve just brought your new stepbrother Jonas to an overnight island party gone horribly wrong.

Why similar: Choices Matter 21.4%, Great Soundtrack 21%, Story Rich 19.3%, Female Protagonist 14.2%, Atmospheric 8%

Why You'll Like It: Its naturalistic dialogue, female lead, supernatural mystery, and atmosphere-first pacing make it one of the closest non-Life is Strange matches.

Have you ever dreamt of being a superhero? Meet Chris, a creative and imaginative 9 year old boy who escapes reality with fantastical adventures as his alter ego, the Awesome Captain Spirit! Captain Spirit is a free demo set in the Life is Strange universe. Contains links to Life is Strange 2

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 30.8%, Choices Matter 26.9%, Story Rich 22.1%, Atmospheric 8.4%, Adventure 4.6%

Why You'll Like It: This free side story is short, but its imagination-led storytelling and bittersweet Life is Strange tone make it an easy companion piece.

Five years after the events of OXENFREE, Riley returns to her hometown of Camena to investigate mysterious radio signals. What she finds is more than she bargained for.

Why similar: Choices Matter 20.1%, Female Protagonist 18%, Story Rich 16.5%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.2%, Multiple Endings 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: It keeps OXENFREE's reactive conversations and eerie mood while digging even deeper into character relationships and emotional fallout.

Goodbye Volcano High is a cinematic narrative adventure about love, change, and the end of the world. Guide Fang through their final year of high school as they try to make things right before time is up.

Why similar: Choices Matter 29.6%, Story Rich 26.5%, Choose Your Own Adventure 19.2%, LGBTQ+ 12.5%, Adventure 4.4%

Why You'll Like It: If you want messy teen relationships, music, identity, and dialogue-led choices more than supernatural spectacle, this hits a very similar coming-of-age note.

The small town of Basswood will be changed forever by ex-investigative journalist Sam Higgs in this thrilling narrative experience from award-winning studio DON'T NOD. Will you find the truth – no matter the cost?

Why similar: Choices Matter 31.6%, Story Rich 22.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.2%, Third Person 9.4%, Mystery 7.3%

Why You'll Like It: From Dontnod, this is another slow-burn, choice-driven mystery focused on fractured relationships, small-town atmosphere, and grounded emotional stakes.

A secluded school might finally be Clementine’s chance for a home, but protecting it will mean sacrifice.

Why similar: Choices Matter 23.3%, Episodic 22.3% ★, Story Rich 18.3%, Female Protagonist 11.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 10.7%

Why You'll Like It: Clementine's final season blends episodic structure, heartfelt character bonds, and high-stakes choices in a way that will appeal if you value emotional narrative first.

A unique psychological action thriller delivered by A-list Hollywood performances by Elliot Page and Willem Dafoe, Beyond: Two Souls takes you on a thrilling journey across the globe as you play out the remarkable life of Jodie Holmes.

Why similar: Choices Matter 32.9%, Story Rich 21.6%, Female Protagonist 20.4%, Great Soundtrack 12.1%, Adventure 4.7%

Why You'll Like It: Jodie's coming-of-age arc, cinematic presentation, and major decision points make this a good fit if you want an emotionally driven supernatural drama.

June 7th, 1995. 1:15 AM. You arrive home after a year abroad. You expect your family to greet you, but the house is empty. Something's not right. Where is everyone? And what's happened here? Unravel the mystery for yourself in Gone Home, a story exploration game from The Fullbright Company.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 19%, Story Rich 18.3%, Great Soundtrack 18%, Female Protagonist 16.2%, Atmospheric 12.2%

Why You'll Like It: Though it has fewer explicit branches, its intimate exploration, queer themes, and focus on a young woman's relationships strongly overlap with Before the Storm's emotional appeal.

NIGHT IN THE WOODS is an adventure game focused on exploration, story, and character, featuring dozens of characters to meet and lots to do across a lush, vibrant world.

Why similar: Choices Matter 32.3%, Story Rich 30.6%, Atmospheric 14.4%, Mystery 9.1%, Adventure 6.4%

Why You'll Like It: Its melancholy young-adult cast, small-town aimlessness, and sharply written friendships capture the same bittersweet coming-of-age feeling.

Firewatch is a single-player first-person mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness, where your only emotional lifeline is the person on the other end of a handheld radio.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 30.3%, Story Rich 27.1%, Atmospheric 15.6%, Mystery 8.3%, Walking Simulator 8.2%

Why You'll Like It: Firewatch trades teen drama for adult melancholy, but its lonely atmosphere, natural dialogue, and emotionally loaded exploration make it a strong tonal match.

Explore the entangled lives of two families across thirty years in an original interactive drama from INTERIOR/NIGHT. Starting in 1998 with a robbery-gone-wrong, the character's lives depend on the choices you make.

Why similar: Choices Matter 34.4%, Story Rich 23.2%, Choose Your Own Adventure 18.7%, Multiple Endings 10.1%, Mystery 6.8%

Why You'll Like It: Its playable conversations and branching family drama scratch the same 'choices shape intimate relationships' itch, just with a live-action presentation.

Detroit: Become Human puts the destiny of both mankind and androids in your hands, taking you to a near future where machines have become more intelligent than humans. Every choice you make affects the outcome of the game, with one of the most intricately branching narratives ever created.

Why similar: Choices Matter 36.3%, Story Rich 22.8%, Great Soundtrack 15.1%, Multiple Endings 11.8%, Female Protagonist 4.1%

Why You'll Like It: It offers some of Steam's best branching narrative design, with relationship-focused choices and multiple outcomes, albeit in a much more futuristic setting.

From the makers of the 2012 Game of the Year: The Walking Dead, comes a thriller based on the award-winning Fables comic books. As Bigby Wolf you will discover that a brutal, bloody murder is just a taste of things to come in a game series where your every decision can have enormous consequences.

Why similar: Episodic 38.1% ★, Choices Matter 14.7%, Story Rich 12%, Choose Your Own Adventure 9.4%, Multiple Endings 6.3%

Why You'll Like It: It is more noir and fantastical, but its choice-heavy episodic storytelling and emphasis on dialogue consequences line up well with story-first drama fans.

Long-lost family secrets. Hints of a hidden fortune. And miles to go before they sleep. Tess Devine’s relationship with her mom has never been easy, but they’re about to set out together on a journey into the past that they’ll never forget.

Why similar: Story Rich 49.9%, Atmospheric 19.5%, Adventure 13.6%, Mystery 8.9%, Female Protagonist 6.3%

Why You'll Like It: This narrative road trip is all about uncovering family history through conversation, exploration, and a grounded emotional bond rather than traditional gameplay.

Hitchhike your way to freedom in this crazy procedurally generated road trip. No one's road is the same!

Why similar: Choices Matter 31.2%, Story Rich 22.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 16.1%, Atmospheric 11%, Multiple Endings 10.3%

Why You'll Like It: Its hitchhiking structure creates a strong sense of youth, freedom, music, and consequential encounters that echoes Life is Strange's road-and-conversation energy.

The Final Cut is the ultimate collector's edition of Dreamfall Chapters, a story-driven 3D adventure about choice and consequence, set in parallel worlds: a cyberpunk vision of the future and a magical fantasy realm.

Why similar: Choices Matter 22.3%, Story Rich 22.1%, Female Protagonist 18.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 10.2%, Atmospheric 9.3%

Why You'll Like It: This long-form adventure emphasizes character relationships, parallel timelines, and story-first decision-making over action, much like classic narrative adventures.

What Remains of Edith Finch is a collection of strange tales about a family in Washington state. As Edith, you’ll explore the colossal Finch house, searching for stories as she explores her family history and tries to figure out why she's the last one in her family left alive.

Why similar: Story Rich 30.8%, Great Soundtrack 24.6%, Female Protagonist 13.2%, Atmospheric 12.4%, Walking Simulator 6.4%

Why You'll Like It: It is more linear, but its poignant storytelling, strong sense of place, and focus on memory and family make it a natural pick for atmosphere-first players.

A magical adventure about two high school sweethearts set at the end of their school days - and the end of the world. Explore a crumbling town and help friends face their inner demons, which could be the key to stopping reality itself disintegrating. And don’t forget to pet the cats.

Why similar: Story Rich 53.7%, Atmospheric 21.3%, Mystery 13.6%, Adventure 7%, Singleplayer 4.4%

Why You'll Like It: This beautifully written coming-of-age story captures the same blend of youthful intimacy, emotional mystery, and wistful atmosphere, even with lighter branching.

The fate of humanity is at stake. Use your gift of clairvoyance to see into the future and stop an apocalypse that threatens the balance between your world and the deities'.

Why similar: Choices Matter 22.2%, Female Protagonist 18.4%, Story Rich 15.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 15%, Atmospheric 9.2%

Why You'll Like It: From Dontnod, it turns dialogue choices and relationships into the core gameplay while delivering the same introspective, stylized storytelling focus.

It's 1986 - Meredith Weiss takes a break from her career in the big city to deliver mail in her hometown. How will she experience two weeks in beautiful Providence Oaks, with its iconic lake and quirky community? And what will she do next? It's up to you.

Why similar: Choices Matter 18.8%, Female Protagonist 17%, Story Rich 17%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.1%, Multiple Endings 7.8%

Why You'll Like It: Lake swaps drama for cozy reflection, but its female lead, small-town pacing, and relationship-driven choices feel pleasantly adjacent to Before the Storm.

Your aunt’s dead, your cousin hates you, and you’re stuck in the dead-end town of Scarlet Hollow. Choose your path through a branching narrative so dense that you'll see less than 1/5 of the game on a single playthrough. You won't be able to save everyone. Good luck, and welcome home.

Why similar: Choices Matter 35.9%, Story Rich 24%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.8%, Multiple Endings 11.2%, Mystery 7.2%

Why You'll Like It: If you like choices that shape relationships and uncover a supernatural small-town mystery, this is a strong moodier, more horror-leaning alternative.

A deep, interactive adventure about love and loss, beautifully depicted and offering an intense cinematic experience. What would you do to save the one you love?

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 32.6%, Story Rich 20.1%, Choices Matter 20%, Atmospheric 11.9%, Adventure 5%

Why You'll Like It: A short, emotional tale about loss and changing the past that will appeal if you want another intimate, music-forward narrative experience.

The saga of Max and Chloe, and the fate of Caledon, is yours to decide! Play as both Max and Chloe as an all-new story builds towards an epic climax. The fire will force Max and Chloe to make devastating decisions. Can they find a future together… Before everything burns?

Why similar: Choices Matter 23.7%, Female Protagonist 15.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14%, Story Rich 11.3%, LGBTQ+ 9.2%

Leave home for the first time to collect memories before a mysterious cataclysm washes everything away. Ride, record, meet people, and unravel the strange world around you in this third-person meditative exploration game.

Why similar: Female Protagonist 32.9%, Story Rich 28%, Atmospheric 15.4%, Mystery 10.3%, Walking Simulator 5.3%

Why You'll Like It: Its quiet travel, photography, and reflective tone won't match the branching drama, but it nails the wistful, soundtrack-friendly atmosphere.

In this 3D visual novel, follow failed screenwriter Junon as she attempts to make it through the most pivotal day in her life. Relive the past, alter the present, and embrace the future, or without your help, Junon’s story might end in a wreck.

Why similar: Choices Matter 26.2%, Story Rich 15.8%, Female Protagonist 13.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.6%, Atmospheric 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: This tightly focused narrative game is built around emotional conversations, memory, and regret, delivering a similarly personal story-led experience.

Experience the BAFTA award-winning story of Life is Strange now beautifully remastered with enhanced visuals and vastly improved animation using mocap technology.

Why similar: Choices Matter 27.2%, Story Rich 18.1%, Female Protagonist 17.8%, Great Soundtrack 8.8%, Multiple Endings 8.4%

Life is Strange: Before the Storm returns with remastered visuals across characters & environments.

Why similar: Choices Matter 27.1%, Female Protagonist 21.3%, Story Rich 17.1%, Multiple Endings 8.9%, LGBTQ+ 8%

On their last night together, three friends embark on one final adventure. Play through a mixtape of memories, set to the soundtrack of a generation.

Why similar: Female Protagonist 30.1%, Walking Simulator 16.3%, LGBTQ+ 13.6%, Atmospheric 9.3%, Third Person 8%

Tales from the Borderlands is a five-part episodic game set on the unforgiving world of Pandora between the events of Borderlands 2 and Borderlands 3. This is a story full of Borderlands' trademark humor, following two adventurers on their quest for greatness.

Why similar: Episodic 34.9% ★, Choices Matter 16.3%, Great Soundtrack 14.2%, Story Rich 12.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 6.3%

Marie's Room is a short story exploration game about an unconventional friendship between two classmates. You play as Kelsey, remembering Marie's room as it was twenty years ago. But something’s off. What happened to Marie?

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 30.3%, Story Rich 25.8%, Female Protagonist 15%, Atmospheric 11%, Walking Simulator 5.7%

Follow the grim tale of young Amicia and her little brother Hugo, in a heartrending journey through the darkest hours of history.

Why similar: Story Rich 28.7%, Great Soundtrack 23.5%, Female Protagonist 21.9%, Atmospheric 9.9%, Third Person 6.2%

The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries stars the iconic, blade-wielding character from Robert Kirkman's best-selling comic books.

Why similar: Episodic 30.6% ★, Choices Matter 17.1%, Female Protagonist 13.3%, Story Rich 12.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 7.5%

From Remedy Entertainment, the masters of cinematic action games, comes Quantum Break, a time-amplified suspenseful blockbuster. The Quantum Break experience is part game, part live action show—where decisions in one dramatically affect the other.

Why similar: Episodic 32.4% ★, Story Rich 20.5%, Choices Matter 14.2%, Great Soundtrack 12.8%, Third Person 6.5%

Experience the winner of over 300 Game of the Year awards, now on PC. Discover Ellie and Abby’s story with graphical enhancements, gameplay modes like the roguelike survival experience No Return, and more.

Why similar: Story Rich 38.9%, Female Protagonist 15%, LGBTQ+ 13.3%, Third Person 12.8%, Atmospheric 10.7%

Embark on a quest for identity through time, as you piece together the puzzle of two lives.

Why similar: Story Rich 23.6%, Female Protagonist 23.5%, Choices Matter 13.3%, Atmospheric 10.2%, Mystery 8.4%

After society was ripped apart by undead hands, pockets of civilization emerge from the chaos. But at what cost? Can the living be trusted on this new frontier?

Why similar: Episodic 38.6% ★, Choices Matter 21.3%, Story Rich 17%, Atmospheric 6.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 6%

Emily is Away Too is a brand new story featuring new characters and multiple different endings. Message your friends, surf the web and choose your path through this branching narrative.

Why similar: Choices Matter 37.1%, Story Rich 22.5%, Great Soundtrack 14.2%, Multiple Endings 11.4%, Singleplayer 3.1%

Last Stop is a single-player third-person adventure set in present day London, where you play as three separate characters whose worlds collide in the midst of a supernatural crisis.

Why similar: Story Rich 32.3%, Great Soundtrack 29.9%, Adventure 15.7%, Mystery 8%, Atmospheric 7.5%

An exploration game about emotional ties that transcend even death. Riley is faced with a headstrong ghost, urging her on an adventure across atmospheric shores, uncovering the island's tragic secret. Choices in dialogue shape the bond between the two, ultimately deciding Riley's fate.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 26.4%, Story Rich 16.8%, Female Protagonist 13.2%, Choices Matter 11.6%, Atmospheric 10.2%

Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in North America) was a breakthrough in interactive narrative. This newly remastered edition features updated textures in HD, expanded controller support, and is based on the uncut and uncensored international version of the game.

Why similar: Story Rich 31%, Choices Matter 22.8%, Great Soundtrack 15.9%, Atmospheric 11.5%, Mystery 6.5%

Remember Me™ is a 3rd person action adventure where players take on the role of Nilin, a former elite memory hunter with the ability to break into people’s minds and steal or even alter their memories.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 31%, Female Protagonist 28.4%, Story Rich 17.1%, Third Person 9.3%, Atmospheric 6%

Elsinore is a time-looping adventure game set in the world of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Elsinore combines strong social simulation elements, a dynamic story that reacts immediately to player decisions, and a world full of diverse characters with secrets to uncover.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 21.4%, Choices Matter 20.2%, Female Protagonist 16.4%, Story Rich 14.6%, Adventure 7%

The Walking Dead: Season Two continues the story of Clementine, a young girl orphaned by the undead apocalypse. Left to fend for herself, she has been forced to learn how to survive in a world gone mad.

Why similar: Episodic 44.5% ★, Story Rich 14.8%, Choices Matter 11.1%, Female Protagonist 9.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 6.7%

Embark on a heartrending journey into a brutal, breathtaking world, and discover the cost of saving those you love in a desperate struggle for survival. Strike from the shadows or unleash hell with a variety of weapons, tools and unearthly powers.

Why similar: Female Protagonist 33.2%, Atmospheric 16.2%, Story Rich 14.4%, Third Person 14%, Mystery 7.9%

The prequel to Road 96. Play Zoe and Kaito where it all started. Change their destinies!

Why similar: Choices Matter 30.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 24.1%, Story Rich 20.5%, Multiple Endings 11.6%, Walking Simulator 7.4%

Coming back to the family hotel after years, a young woman finds herself trapped with the ghosts from her past and an old cellular telephone as the only way to unveil a terrible truth.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 22%, Female Protagonist 21.1%, Story Rich 20.5%, Atmospheric 12.4%, Mystery 8.8%

If Found... is a game about going home, coming out and erasing everything.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 34.1%, Female Protagonist 19%, Story Rich 16.9%, LGBTQ+ 14.6%, Atmospheric 7.8%

Led by her new friend, Mr. Voice, Misfortune ventures into the woods, where mysteries are unraveled and a little bad luck unfolds.

Why similar: Choices Matter 26.2%, Story Rich 20.4%, Female Protagonist 17%, Great Soundtrack 14.8%, Atmospheric 5.5%

In this latest chapter from the award-winning studio behind Batman - The Telltale Series, both Bruce Wayne and Batman will be forced into precarious new roles. The Riddler has returned to terrorize Gotham City, but his gruesome puzzles merely foreshadow an even greater crisis.

Why similar: Episodic 32.5% ★, Choices Matter 27.5%, Story Rich 20.8%, Adventure 4.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 4%

Take on the role of Camina Drummer and explore the dangerous, uncharted edges of the Belt. From scavenging wrecked ships in a zero-g environment, to combating fearsome pirates, you make the difficult choices in this latest Telltale adventure. All five episodes playable at launch!

Why similar: Choices Matter 26.5%, Choose Your Own Adventure 18.9%, Female Protagonist 17.3%, Story Rich 13.1%, Third Person 7.2%

Experience a gripping psychological thriller filled with innumerable twists and turns. The hunt is on for a murderer known only as the Origami Killer. Four characters, each following their own leads, must take part in a desperate attempt to prevent the killer from claiming a new victim.

Why similar: Choices Matter 42.2%, Story Rich 26%, Multiple Endings 14.1%, Atmospheric 5.4%, Mystery 4.6%

Set out on a cross-country journey to win back the love of your life and endure the hardship of making story-defining choices that affect your life and the lives of those around you.

Why similar: Story Rich 26%, Great Soundtrack 25.8%, Choices Matter 24.5%, LGBTQ+ 8%, Female Protagonist 5.4%