erica gaming

The PlayStation game ‘Erica’ is one of the few games where you control the storyline

Get behind the steering wheel for four games where your choices matter

These four games add tension to gameplay because the choices you make in them have a big impact on the characters and story.

erica gaming

The PlayStation game ‘Erica’ is one of the few games where you control the storyline

The following four games add tension to gameplay by ensuring that the choices you make leave an indelible impact on characters and the story.

One of the things that differentiate video games from other forms of art is that they allow the consumer to make their own decisions.

It is therefore surprising that very few games take full advantage of this feature of the medium.

When players take the opportunity to make narrative choices, the options are usually limited and superficial. Thankfully, there are a few titles that do allow players to make decisions that impact the game’s narrative meaningfully.

Here are four games where the choices you make truly matter:

‘Erica’

Interactive movie games let players feel like they are the directors of a movie. They use full motion video instead of animation, and players advance the plot through the decisions they make.

Erica is a PS4 exclusive interactive movie game that tells the story of a girl named Erica who, as a child, witnesses her father’s murder. Years later, she receives a parcel that contains a disembodied hand with the Delphic Epsilon symbol carved onto it.

For her own safety, police officers move Erica to a mental institution called Delphi House. Here, she unravels mysteries that reveal the dark side of her father and Delphi House.

Erica is a campy murder mystery game that makes innovative use of the DualShock 4’s touchpad.

It has many branching plotlines that yield wildly varying endings depending on the choices you make.

Best of all, it can be completed in about 2 hours, which makes it great for a quick gaming session before bed. 

‘Detroit: Become Human’

Detroit: Become Human game gaming

David Cage is a video game director known for games such as Heavy Rain, which place a strong focus on the decisions players make. Games his studio, Quantic Dreams, develops are often ambitious.

They try to create many different narrative branches to accommodate for the wide array of choices that players may make.

Detroit: Become Human is easily Cage’s magnum opus. It is a science fiction game set in a future where androids have entered the workforce, leading to rapid societal change. While others embrace androids, some loathe them for replacing humans in the workforce. There are problems when the highly intelligent androids begin to bypass their programming and exercise their own free will.

The game raises many questions on the ethics of human-robot interactions. It asks whether our creations will ever become worthy of rights and dignity.

Detroit: Become Human is a thrilling adventure where you get to decide whether you will support the android revolution or whether you will sympathise with your fellow humans.

‘The Walking Dead’

The Walking Dead gaming game

The Walking Dead is a Telltale-developed video game based on the television series of the same name.

It puts players in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. The protagonist is Lee, a man who is on his way to prison for murder when chaos breaks lose and society begins crumbling. Although his one-way trip to prison is disrupted by the hoards of undead, he now must face survival in a dystopian world. He finds a little girl named Clementine and, together, they fight to stay alive and find her parents.

The Walking Dead raises many moral conundrums and forces players to make difficult choices. The characters Lee comes across are all complex individuals. They each bring further complications to the touch decisions that must be made.

Will Lee protect Clementine? Who will live and who will die? The answers to these questions lie in your hands.

‘Until Dawn’

until Dawn game gaming

One of the most frustrating parts of watching a horror movie is seeing your favourite characters make the wrong decisions. Until Dawn solves this problem by handing all the control to you.

The story of Until Dawn is one which mainly takes place in a lodge on top of a snowy mountain. A year after two girls go missing, a group of teens return to the lodge. There, they slowly come to realise that they are not alone.

Until Dawn presents an interesting array of characters and you will either love them or loathe them. Luckily, you will be able to kill off anyone you believe does not deserve to live.

The game also features segments where a therapist interviews you about your fears, which adds an interesting meta layer to the experience. It also makes liberal use of the DualShock 4’s unique features including its touchpad and motion sensors.

The choices you make will result in many different outcomes which gives the game plenty of replay value.