Life Is Strange

Life Is Strange is an episodic adventure game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix. The first installment of the Life Is Strange series, the game was released in five episodes periodically throughout 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It was ported to OS X and Linux in 2016, and iOS and Android in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The plot focuses on Max Caulfield, an 18-year-old photography student who discovers that she has the ability to rewind time at any moment, leading her every choice to enact the butterfly effect. She uses this ability to solve the disappearance of a girl named Rachel Amber, and the bizarre tragedies that fall upon the women in her academy. The player's actions can alter the narrative as it unfolds, and the player can in many cases rewind time to choose a different option and thus reshape the story. Fetch quests and making environmental changes represent the forms of puzzle solving in addition to using branching choices for conversation. Development of the game began in April 2013. It was formed with an episodic structure in mind, for reasons both financial and creative. The developers conducted field research on the setting by traveling to the Pacific Northwest, and subverted known archetypes to make the characters. Player feedback influenced the adjustments made to the episodes. Story and character arc serve as the central point in the game. Life Is Strange received critical acclaim and was commended for its character development, soundtrack, story, rewind game mechanic, emotional depth, and tackling of taboo subjects. Criticisms included the slang that was used, poor lip-syncing, and tonal inconsistencies in the story. The game garnered over 75 Game of the Year awards and listings, and has reached 20 million players as of November 2023. It is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, as well an example of video games as an art form.

Source: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 — Life Is Strange (video game) · retrieved October 19, 2026

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Developer

Don’t Nod

Publisher

Square Enix, Feral Interactive

First release

January 30, 2015

Series

Life Is Strange

Cover

Official thumbnail

Record ID

Q18536861