List
22 Games Like Life Is Strange (2026), Sorted by What You Loved
The closest games to Life is Strange are the rest of the series (Before the Storm, Life is Strange 2, True Colors, Double Exposure and the 2026 Reunion) and the other DON'T NOD games, Tell Me Why and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. For the small-town mystery feel, try Oxenfree and Night in the Woods. For quiet, emotional stories, try Gone Home or What Remains of Edith Finch.
People mean different things when they ask for a game like Life is Strange. Some want another teenager with a strange power. Some want the small-town mystery. Some want the friendship, the music and the slow, sad afternoons. And some just want choices that hurt.
So this list is sorted by what you loved. Every release date, price and phone version below was checked on Steam or the US App Store on October 26, 2026. Prices change with sales, so treat them as a guide.
Games like Life is Strange at a glance
| Game | Year | Studio | Steam (US) | On iPhone? | Best if you loved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life is Strange: Before the Storm | 2017 | Deck Nine | $39.99 (Remastered) | Yes, free to download | Chloe |
| Life is Strange 2 | 2018 | DONTNOD | Episode 1 free | No | Powers, road trip |
| Life is Strange: True Colors | 2021 | Deck Nine | $59.99 | No | Powers, small town |
| Life is Strange: Double Exposure | 2024 | Deck Nine | $49.99 | No | Max |
| Life is Strange: Reunion | 2026 | Deck Nine | $39.99 | No | Max and Chloe |
| Tell Me Why | 2020 | DONTNOD | $19.99 | No | Powers, family mystery |
| Lost Records: Bloom & Rage | 2025 | DON'T NOD | $39.99 | No | Friendship, 90s nostalgia |
| Twin Mirror | 2021 | DON'T NOD | $29.99 ($5.99 on sale when checked) | No | Small-town mystery |
| Harmony: The Fall of Reverie | 2023 | DON'T NOD | $24.99 | No | Seeing the future |
| Oxenfree | 2016 | Night School Studio | $9.99 | Yes, Netflix members | Teens, supernatural |
| Oxenfree II: Lost Signals | 2023 | Night School Studio | $19.99 | Yes, Netflix members | Hometown mystery |
| Night in the Woods | 2017 | Infinite Fall | $19.99 | Yes, $5.99 | Friends, hometown |
| Road 96 | 2021 | Digixart | $19.96 | No | Road trip, choices |
| Open Roads | 2024 | Open Roads Team | $19.99 | No | Family secrets |
| Gone Home | 2013 | Fullbright | $14.99 | Yes, $4.99 | Quiet, 90s |
| Firewatch | 2016 | Campo Santo | $19.99 | No | Quiet, mystery |
| What Remains of Edith Finch | 2017 | Giant Sparrow | $19.99 | Yes, $4.99 | Sad, beautiful |
| Before Your Eyes | 2021 | GoodbyeWorld Games | $9.99 ($1.99 on sale when checked) | Yes, Netflix members | Crying |
| Kentucky Route Zero | 2013 to 2020 | Cardboard Computer | $24.99 | No | Strange, dreamy |
| Detroit: Become Human | 2018 | Quantic Dream | $39.99 | No | Big branching choices |
| The Wolf Among Us Remastered | 2026 | Telltale | Out October 29, 2026 | No | Choices, mystery |
| Florence | 2018 | Mountains (Annapurna) | (phone game) | Yes, $2.99 | A love story in one sitting |
"No" in the iPhone column means we did not find it on the US App Store on October 26, 2026. Most of these games are also on PlayStation, Xbox or Switch; check the console store before you buy.
Life is Strange games in order (if you have only played the first one)
If you finished the first game and stopped, the series itself is the obvious next step. In story order:
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm (2017). A prequel about Chloe and Rachel Amber, three years before the first game. No time powers, but the closest in mood.
- Life is Strange (2015). Max Caulfield, Arcadia Bay and the power to rewind time. The first episode is free on Steam.
- Life is Strange 2 (2018). A new cast: brothers Sean and Daniel Diaz run away from home toward Mexico while Daniel learns he has a telekinetic power. Episode 1 is free on Steam.
- Life is Strange: True Colors (2021). Alex Chen can feel and absorb other people's emotions, a power she calls Empathy, and uses it to find out how her brother really died.
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure (2024). Max returns as an adult. When her friend Safi is found dead in the snow, Max opens a parallel timeline where Safi is still alive and can shift between the two.
- Life is Strange: Reunion (2026). Released March 26, 2026. You play as both Max and Chloe in a new story with a fire threatening the college town of Caledon.
Before the Storm and the first game work in either order. Most players start with the 2015 game.
If you loved the powers: supernatural story games
Tell Me Why (2020)
The closest non-series match. DON'T NOD made it after Life is Strange 2: twins Tyler and Alyson return to their Alaska hometown and use a supernatural bond to dig into their troubled past. Like Life is Strange, it comes in chapters and the choices are about memory and family, not action.
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie (2023)
Also from DON'T NOD, but closer to a visual novel. You use the gift of clairvoyance to see possible futures and choose which one to steer toward. Good if Max's rewind was your favorite part, since it is about weighing outcomes before you commit.
Oxenfree (2016)
Teenagers at an overnight island party accidentally open a ghostly rift. The choices come through natural, overlapping conversation and an old radio you tune to strange signals. It is funny, eerie and short. On phones it is OXENFREE: Netflix Edition, which needs a Netflix membership.
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (2023)
Five years later, Riley returns to her hometown of Camena to investigate mysterious radio signals. A good pick if you liked the "adult goes home and finds something wrong" side of Double Exposure.
If you loved the small-town mystery
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (2025)
From the creators of the original Life is Strange. Four teenage girls film their summer of 1995 on a camcorder, then reunite 27 years later to face the secret that made them promise never to speak again. The camcorder replaces Max's photography in a very familiar way.
Twin Mirror (2021)
Ex-investigative journalist Sam Higgs returns to the small town of Basswood and gets pulled into a death he cannot explain. It is the darkest and most thriller-like DON'T NOD game, and it was 80% off on Steam ($5.99 instead of $29.99) on the day we checked.
Night in the Woods (2017)
Mae drops out of college and comes home to the fading mining town of Possum Springs, where her old friends have moved on and something strange is happening in the woods. It has fewer big choices than Life is Strange but nails the same "small town, stuck friends" feeling. It costs $5.99 on iPhone.
The Wolf Among Us Remastered (October 29, 2026)
Telltale's noir mystery about Bigby Wolf, sheriff of a hidden fairy-tale community in New York. The remaster is dated for October 29, 2026 on Steam, three days after we checked, so look for reviews before you buy.
If you loved the friendship and the road
Road 96 (2021)
You hitchhike toward a border in an authoritarian country before an election, and every run is different. Each traveler you meet has their own story, and your choices shape both your trip and the vote. If Life is Strange 2's road trip was your favorite, start here.
Open Roads (2024)
Teenager Tess Devine and her mother set out on a road trip through old family properties, following hints of a hidden fortune and a long-buried family secret. Small, warm and about a hard relationship, much like Max and Chloe's.
Florence (2018)
A short phone game about a first love, told almost without words through little puzzles. You can finish it in one sitting. It is $2.99 on iPhone.
If you loved the quiet, sad moments
These are often called "walking simulators": few or no branching choices, but you explore at your own pace and a story unfolds around you. If what you remember most from Life is Strange is sitting on a bench while a song plays, these are for you.
- Gone Home (2013). June 7, 1995, 1:15 AM. You come home from a year abroad and the house is empty. One of the best short stories in games, and $4.99 on iPhone.
- Firewatch (2016). A fire lookout in the Wyoming wilderness, whose only lifeline is the voice of a stranger on a handheld radio. Mystery, loneliness and some of the best dialogue in the genre.
- What Remains of Edith Finch (2017). Edith explores her family's huge, strange house in Washington state, and each room tells how a different relative died. Sad, beautiful and about two hours long.
- Before Your Eyes (2021). You control the story with your real-life blinks, using your webcam or phone camera. Every blink jumps time forward, so the memories you want to hold slip away. Famous for making people cry.
- Kentucky Route Zero (2013 to 2020). A magical realist adventure about a secret highway under Kentucky and the people who travel it. Slow and unlike anything else.
If you loved the choices: bigger branching stories
Life is Strange's choices are mostly about relationships, and the big endings come down to a few key decisions. If you want stories that split more visibly, try Detroit: Become Human (2018), where three androids' choices change the outcome and a flowchart after each chapter shows the paths you missed. For more like it, see our list of 20 games like Until Dawn and 22 choose your own adventure games.
Free games like Life is Strange
| Game | Where | What is free |
|---|---|---|
| Life is Strange | Steam | Episode 1 |
| Life is Strange 2 | Steam | Episode 1 |
| Life Is Strange, Before the Storm | iPhone | Free to download (Square Enix) |
| OXENFREE, OXENFREE II, Before Your Eyes | iPhone | No extra cost with a Netflix membership |
We left out prices from free-chapter promotions and sales, which change often. Check the store page on the day you buy.
What makes a game feel like Life is Strange?
- An ordinary person with one strange power. Rewinding time, feeling emotions, a mental bond. The power is personal, not heroic.
- A small place with a secret. Arcadia Bay, Haven Springs, Basswood, Possum Springs. Everyone knows everyone, and something is wrong.
- One relationship at the center. Max and Chloe, Sean and Daniel, Tyler and Alyson. The choices test that bond.
- Slow time between the drama. Sitting, looking at photos, listening to a song. These moments are why the big choices hurt.
One honest note: if you want lots of branching, Life is Strange is not the most branching series on this list. Its strength is how much the small choices feel like yours, even when the big story stays on track.
Want to make your own "what if" story?
Life is Strange is built on a "what if" idea: what if you could undo a mistake? If you want a shorter dose of that choice-driven feeling on your phone, FICT is an AI movie app for iPhone and Android. Every night at 8 PM (you can change the time), a new AI movie stops at a fork, and you pick one of three people to follow. Their path plays right away, with one more choice in the middle, and ends in a movie poster with your name on it. The mystery and slow-burn romance nights are the closest to Life is Strange. Your first path every night is free; writing your own twist is part of the optional FICT Director subscription.
Every night at 8, a new AI movie stops at a fork. Pick one of three and your path plays right away. Your first path every night is free.
More to explore: 110 what if scenarios for your own premise, mystery story ideas, and what happened to Netflix's interactive shows.
Sources
- Steam. Life is Strange - Episode 1. Episode 1 free; Complete Season $19.99. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam. Life is Strange Remastered and Before the Storm Remastered. Released 2022-02-01 by Deck Nine, $39.99 each. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam. Life is Strange 2. Episode 1 free; Sean and Daniel Diaz, telekinesis. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam. Life is Strange: True Colors. 2021, Alex Chen, power of Empathy, $59.99. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam. Life is Strange: Double Exposure. 2024-10-29, Max shifts between two timelines, $49.99. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam (2026). Life is Strange: Reunion. Released 2026-03-26, play as Max and Chloe, $39.99. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam (2025). Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. Released 2025-02-18 by DON'T NOD, summer of 1995 and 27 years later. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam. Tell Me Why, Twin Mirror, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie. DON'T NOD; Tell Me Why $19.99, Twin Mirror $29.99 (80% sale $5.99), Harmony $24.99. Checked 2026-10-26
- App Store. Life Is Strange and Life is Strange: Before Storm (iPhone). Square Enix, free to download. Checked 2026-10-26
- App Store. OXENFREE: Netflix Edition. Available exclusively for Netflix members. Checked 2026-10-26
- App Store. Night in the Woods (iPhone). Finji, $5.99. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam. Gone Home, Firewatch, What Remains of Edith Finch, Before Your Eyes, Road 96, Open Roads, Kentucky Route Zero. Store descriptions, release dates and US prices. Checked 2026-10-26
- Steam (2026). The Wolf Among Us Remastered. Release date October 29, 2026. Checked 2026-10-26
Frequently asked questions
What is the closest game to Life is Strange?
Outside the series itself, Tell Me Why and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage are the closest. Both come from DON'T NOD, the studio that made the original Life is Strange, and both mix a small-town mystery, a close relationship and choices told in episodes. Tell Me Why also has a supernatural power at its center: twins who share a mental bond.
What are some new games similar to Life is Strange?
The newest are Life is Strange: Reunion (March 26, 2026), which brings back Max and Chloe, and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (February 18, 2025) from DON'T NOD. The Wolf Among Us Remastered, a Telltale choice game, is dated for October 29, 2026 on Steam.
Are there free games like Life is Strange?
Yes. On Steam, the first episode of Life is Strange and the first episode of Life is Strange 2 are free. On iPhone, Life Is Strange and Before the Storm are free to download from Square Enix. OXENFREE and Before Your Eyes are on phones at no extra cost with a Netflix membership.
Can you play games like Life is Strange on your phone?
Yes. On the App Store you can find Life Is Strange, Life is Strange: Before Storm, OXENFREE and OXENFREE II (Netflix members), Before Your Eyes (Netflix members), Night in the Woods, Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch and Florence. Store availability can differ by country.
Is there a way to make your own story like Life is Strange?
Not from scratch. FICT, an AI movie app for iPhone and Android, gives you a new AI movie every night that stops at a fork, and you pick one of three people to follow. Its mystery and slow-burn romance nights are the closest to Life is Strange. Writing your own twist is part of the optional FICT Director subscription.
