Telltale's The Walking Dead was a really important release that had a major impact on the industry. Telltale's focus on narrative and decision-making gameplay once again showed that video games could have impactful and emotionally resonant storytelling. They were pivotal in helping people understand that video games could deliver in a facet of ways beyond pure gameplay.
Many people fell in love with Clementine's story and were heartbroken when her and Lee's journey came to an end. If you're someone who's looking for the same type of game there are many different titles that could scratch that itch.
Updated March 27, 2023 By Ben Jessey: The impact of TellTale's The Walking Dead is still being felt today, as it really popularized the narrative adventure genre. Yet, the series finished a long time ago now. And it's very unlikely we'll ever see a sequel since it had such a definitive end.
Thankfully, there are other games out there that can fill the hole it left behind. We created this list to highlight some of the most notable ones. In this update, we've added a few more to the piece.
18 Man Of Medan
While The Walking Dead isn't the scariest game in the world, horror is still a part of the experience. In Man Of Medan, however, it's an even bigger part of the experience. The title sees a group of young people go on a diving trip that quickly turns sinister, especially when they're forced to visit a ghost ship.
The gameplay is similar to what you see in The Walking Dead games. You walk around, make decisions, and participate in quick-time events. Which of the main characters live and die depends on your actions.
17 Undying
Much of the first and last seasons of The Walking Dead revolve around you protecting a child. This is what makes Undying a similar game, as you play as a mother who has to look after her son amid a zombie apocalypse. To make matters worse, she has already been bit. With the time she has left, her sole goal is to make sure her child survives.
It's all a race against time as you slowly begin to fall victim to your infection. Therefore, you must manage each day well and make sure your son is set up to live on without you. It's played from an isometric perspective, and gameplay is about interacting with the world around you and fighting zombies.
16 State Of Decay
In State Of Decay, you control a group of survivors amid a zombie apocalypse. This is the exact situation Clementine routinely finds herself in throughout the series. The biggest difference in State Of Decay is that it's less story-focused and more about survival.
You must build up your hideouts and attempt to keep all your playable survivors alive. There's permadeath, too, so when you lose one, they're gone forever. This becomes a possibility every time you leave your safehouse to embark on a mission in the zombie-infested world.
15 Beyond: Two Souls
Throughout The Walking Dead series, you get to see Clementine grow up before your eyes. Beyond: Two Souls is another story about the growth of a young woman. This time the woman in question has supernatural powers. And as you witness different parts of her life, you get to see how these powers have impacted her and her relationships with other people.
The gameplay is a bit like The Walking Dead, as it's a narrative adventure where you continually interact with the objects and people around you.
14 Oxenfree
Oxenfree is another narrative adventure game about a young woman. She is a teenager who heads to a mysterious island to party with her friends. However, things take a bit of a turn shortly after they arrive. Without going into spoilers, there is some supernatural stuff going on, and the main characters need to get to the bottom of it.
The compelling tale is told without the use of cutscenes. Instead, the plot reveals itself through the conversations you have with the people around you. It's a unique way to tell a deep video game story, but it works well.
13 Dead Rising 2
Parental relationships are a big part of The Walking Dead, particularly in the first and last seasons. Lee serves as a stand-in parent for Clementine, who later becomes the adoptive mother of AJ. In Dead Rising 2, one of gaming's best-ever zombie survivors, Chuck Greene, also has to protect his daughter amid a zombie outbreak.
This title is a bit lighter in tone than The Walking Dead. You're encouraged to mess around with wacky weapons and wear silly outfits. However, the story is still pretty serious. As Chuck, you need to figure out how the outbreak happened and how to get to safety. And you need to do that while keeping your child alive.
12 The Last Of Us
If the thing you loved most about Telltale's The Walking Dead was the relationship between Lee and Clementine, then The Last of Us may be the perfect game for you. It also focuses on the relationship of an older man taking care of a young girl as they try and survive the zombie apocalypse.
The big difference is that The Last of Us is a PlayStation console exclusive with a AAA budget behind it. The story is emotionally gripping and will have you invested within the first 15 minutes. With a sequel out on PS5 that continues the story of the first game, it may be the perfect time to experience Joel and Ellie's adventure for the first time.
11 Until Dawn
People like games for many different reasons, so when the task is to find other titles that may pique the same interest you need to know what hooked that person. If the 'choose your own adventure'-type dialogue featured in many of Telltale's games is your jam, then Until Dawn might be a perfect choice for you.
Until Dawn is a narrative horror game where your decisions result in the survival or death of the teen characters trapped at the top of a mountain together. You'll evade the shadows in the dark as you try and survive, Until Dawn.
10 Night In The Woods
Now, Night in the Woods isn't an overtly somber tale that focuses on the apocalypse or a looming danger to the world at large. Instead, it's an intimate story that focuses on people who feel trapped or defined by their small-town upbringing.
You play as a woman who recently dropped out of college who returns to her small hometown and discovers that things have drastically changed since she left. Your decisions have an impact on the story and your individual experience throughout, which may resonate extremely well with fans of Telltale's The Walking Dead.
9 A Wolf Among Us
As it's also a Telltale game, A Wolf Among Us has pretty much identical gameplay to The Walking Dead. Plus, unlike a few of Telltale's other efforts, it shares a similar tone to Clementine's adventures. However, instead of being set in a zombie-filled world, it takes place within the Fables comic book universe. As such, the game is filled with warped fairy tale characters.
The protagonist is the human version of the Big Bad Wolf, known as Bigby. He's a sheriff who investigates all the murders happening around Fable town. Overall, the game rivals The Walking Dead for the title of best Telltale game.
8 What Remains Of Edith Finch
Giant Sparrow released What Remains of Edith Finch in 2017 and ended up winning the award for Best Narrative at The Game Awards that same year. The game features a unique format where players adventure through an anthology of mini-experiences focused on a specific family.
It's a first-person game with an emphasis on exploration as you try and discover what happened to the members of this family. They have a curse where everyone but a select individual in every generation dies in strange ways. You must figure out why Edith Finch was chosen as the survivor of her generation.
7 Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Though the themes, setting, and character are nowhere near anything featured in Telltale's The Walking Dead, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice might be the best thing you didn't know you needed. Hellblade is about mental health and the struggle everyone deals with when trying to find a way out of the crippling weight of it all.
The less you know going in the better, but the only thing required is a good pair of headphones and an open heart. Ninja Theory really delivered a unique and emotional experience in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
6 Days Gone
Throughout Days Gone, there is a constant feeling of dread due to the undead horde that is always nearby. This isn't too dissimilar to the situation Clementine and her friends find themselves in throughout The Walking Dead series.
Yet, the protagonist from Days Gone, Deacon, is in even more trouble, as the freaks he's up against are some of the scariest zombies in gaming history. The biker willingly faces the difficult situation, though, as he needs to find his wife, who he originally thought was dead. It makes for a decent story in an exciting action-adventure game.
5 Undertale
Undertale is a role-playing game that took the world by storm despite being developed by a single person, Toby Fox. The game has players taking on the role of a child who falls into a secluded region of the Earth called the Underground.
The game drew praise for its characters, narrative, and storytelling which led to it being nominated and winning numerous awards and accolades. Undertale takes many of the classic tropes and patterns players are used to seeing in other role-playing games and turns them on their head in clever and engaging ways.
4 Firewatch
Campo Santo is a game development studio comprised of former Telltale employees which aren't surprising once you jump into their first release, Firewatch. You play as a new appointment forest ranger who's trying to balance the struggles of learning a new professional with personal issues in their romantic relationship back home.
You explore the area around you while you try and solve several different mysteries you discover along the way. The voice acting and art style are worth the price of admission, despite the narrative conclusion being a bit polarizing.
3 Gone Home
In Gone Home, you'll partake in a first-person narrative adventure where you explore an eery and empty childhood home while the rest of the family is out of the house. As Katie, players are tasked with uncovering clues about what happened during her absence from her family.
The game isn't too long, and the surprises and twists you reveal along the way are worth not spoiling. It was the breakout hit for Steve Gaynor and can often be found on sale for a criminally low price. It's a short but sweet experience worth the time of anyone with an interest in narrative.
2 Life Is Strange
Life is Strange is a narrative adventure game where you play as Max Caulfield. She's a blossoming photographer at a private art academy that happens to be gifted with the power of time manipulation. Unfortunately, though, not everything is right in her world. First of all, there are hints of a catastrophic event that could wipe out her town.
On top of that, there are some questionable things happening in and around her school. The dark tale revolves around bullying, suicide, loss, grief, and so much more. And like Telltale's The Walking Dead, there are tough decisions you make that will change the outcome of the story.
1 A Plague Tale: Innocence
A Plague Tale: Innocence, from developer Asobo Studio and publisher Focus Home Interactive, was a surprisingly captivating tale that came out of nowhere. The story centers on a young girl and her younger brother as they try and survive a brutal and violent invasion by English forces.
Gameplay tasks you with relying on stealth to avoid engagements with enemy forces, considering your only weapon for much of the game is a slingshot. As the story unfolds, you'll discover that everything isn't quite what it seems. A newly released next-generation upgrade that landed on PS5 and Xbox Series X puts the gameplay at 60 frames per second. The update also helped fix several performance issues and bugs affecting the game.