Top 5 Episodic Video Games

An Epic Adventure In Bite-Sized Pieces

With the trailer for Life is Strange 2 recently dropping, along with all the upcoming episodes from The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us sequels, the next couple of years look set to give us a whole slew of episodic video games. While the format may have grown in popularity over the years, it’s fair to say that these five stand as the cream of the crop!

#5: “Kentucky Route Zero” (2013-)

Though the future is still uncertain, things look good for this indie game. You are Conway, a truck driver sent on deliveries that take him down the strange and mysterious Route Zero of the title. What’s disarming is the game’s scaled-back approach to graphic adventure design; there are no typical puzzles or obstacles to overcome, with the focus being placed on mood building and the story. Yet this angle serves “Kentucky Route Zero” well, as it lets gamers engage with the game’s slowly-unfolding mysteries and tangible atmosphere at their own pace.

#4: “The Wolf Among Us” (2013-14)

Fairy tale creatures and characters in modern New York – that’s a hell of a hook. Luckily, Telltale Games uses the premise of the “Fables” comic book to great effect, putting us in the world-weary shoes of Sheriff Bigby Wolf. Its ties to the comic’s canon and toying with established relationships is second only to the expert implementation of the 1980s setting, complete with era-appropriate soundtrack. However, it also makes time to build a neo-noir detective story that balances a sense of tension and the need to incorporate player choices from episode to episode.

#3: “Starcraft 2” (2010-15)

A saga begins, reaches its climax and ends in glory. This is the mould set by developer Blizzard Entertainment’s “Starcraft 2” trilogy – consisting of “Wings of Liberty”, “Heart of the Swarm” and “Legacy of the Void”. From the story side of things, each instalment adds further nuance to the universe’s characters and conflicts, building to an intense and cathartic resolution. Yet the three components of the total “Starcraft 2” experience also deliver on tweaks to the core real-time strategy gameplay, from offering branching mission paths to carefully modifying existing units’ abilities.

#2: “Life Is Strange” (2015)

So simple a title, yet so poignant. Square Enix wisely opted to publish this work from game company Dontnod Entertainment, about a photography student named Maxine who suddenly finds she has the power to turn back time. Thus, over the course of five episodes, the player controls Maxine in her efforts to intervene in the lives of her friends and people in her hometown, with awe-inspiring results. Along the way, players are treated to a game where consequences visibly endure, punctuated by a quietly evocative folk music-like soundtrack and interesting twists on standard adventure game puzzles.

#1: “The Walking Dead” (2012)

Truly Telltale is the modern master of the episodic model. At least, that’s our impression having experienced “The Walking Dead”, a five-episode game focused on the relationship between history professor Lee Everett and his young charge Clementine amid a zombie apocalypse. From the increasingly gruelling decisions, to the moral and ethical quandaries raised, to even the complex nature of its characters, everything contributes to this bittersweet tale of survival. The directorial flourish and emotional power behind “The Walking Dead” proved popular enough for Telltale to produce the equally-acclaimed “Season 2”, for which we’re thankful. And also a little distraught, but mostly thankful.

Be sure to check out the video below to see our picks for the Top 10 Impossible Choices in Telltale Games.