Every Life Is Strange game, ranked
All 5 Life Is Strange games we hold, spanning 2015 to 2021: 4 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 271,378 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Life Is Strange (GamingPickz Score 8.4), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For the money: Life Is Strange: Before the Storm gives the most score per dollar right now.
The Life Is Strange games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 4 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
4 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 4 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Mobile
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
4 best Life Is Strange games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Life Is Strange
Best for: Trying the genre without spending anything
8.4GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceLife Is Strange at a glance Released 2015 Studio Don’t Nod Player sentiment 96% positive of 175,705 Critics No aggregate Price Free Steam Deck playable Install size 5 GB Accessibility 4 declared features Raw 96% shrinks to 96.0 on 175,705 reviews, giving 8.4. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- 96% positive across 175,705 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Free to download, so trying it costs only time.
- Small install at 5 GB.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 2
Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
Best for: Players who trust other players over critics
7.8GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceLife Is Strange: Before the Storm at a glance Released 2017 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 93% positive of 37,879 Critics 77/100 Price $16.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 14 GB Accessibility 4 declared features Raw 93% shrinks to 92.9 on 37,879 reviews, then blends with the 77 critic aggregate, giving 7.8.
What the data supports- Small install at 14 GB.
Worth checking first- Players rate it well above critics, 93 against 77. Usually a sign it improved after launch, or that it delivers something reviewers undervalued.
- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 3
Life is Strange 2
Best for: Trying the genre without spending anything
7.6GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceLife is Strange 2 at a glance Released 2018 Studio DONTNOD Entertainment Player sentiment 87% positive of 40,943 Critics No aggregate Price Free Steam Deck verified Install size 40 GB Accessibility 4 declared features Raw 87% shrinks to 87.0 on 40,943 reviews, giving 7.6. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
- Free to download, so trying it costs only time.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 4
Life Is Strange: True Colors
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
7.3GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceLife Is Strange: True Colors at a glance Released 2021 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 89% positive of 16,851 Critics No aggregate Price $59.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 30 GB Accessibility 7 declared features Raw 89% shrinks to 88.9 on 16,851 reviews, giving 7.3. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
- Declares 7 accessibility features, well above the catalogue norm.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Only the 4 Life Is Strange games with Steam review data can be scored and ranked. The complete series, scored or not, is charted in order below.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Life Is Strange game we can score is Life Is Strange at 8.4. The lowest is Life Is Strange: True Colors at 7.3, a 1.1-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 2015 to 2021. The later entries score lower than the earlier ones: the series has been trending down.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Life Is Strange at Free. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Life Is Strange entries on Steam:
- Verified: Life is Strange 2, Life Is Strange: True Colors
- Playable: Life Is Strange, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
Platforms across the series
Where the 5 Life Is Strange games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 5 of 5 |
| PlayStation | 2 of 5 |
| Xbox | 2 of 5 |
| Mobile | 2 of 5 |
The Life Is Strange series, game by game
Every Life Is Strange game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2015
Episode 1 now FREE! Life is Strange is an award-winning and critically acclaimed episodic adventure game that allows the player to rewind time and affect the past, present and future. (Steam)
Reception
The series' reception has been generally positive, with all games receiving "generally favorable" reviews according to aggregator Metacritic . Michel Koch has described the series and the approach to its characters as an anthology series similar to TV series like True Detective or American Horror Story in 2015. Life Is Strange received generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 85/100 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. (Wikipedia)
- 2017
Life is Strange: Before the Storm is a new three part standalone story adventure set three years before the events of the first game. This time play as Chloe Price, a rebel who forms an unlikely friendship with Rachel Amber in a dramatic new story in the BAFTA award winning franchise. (Steam)
Plot
In her Oregon hometown of Arcadia Bay in 2010, 16-year-old Chloe Price (Rhianna DeVries; Ashly Burch in Farewell ) sneaks into a punk rock concert at an abandoned lumber mill. Conflict arises with two men inside, but she evades them when schoolmate Rachel Amber (Kylie Brown) causes a distraction. The next day, Chloe and Rachel reunite at Blackwell Academy and decide to ditch class, stowing away on a cargo train and ending up at a lookout point . (Wikipedia)
Reception
The game was met with generally favourable reviews, according to Metacritic . Critics praised the characters, themes, and story, but criticised plotholes, the main relationship, and the impact of players' decisions near the end of the game. Episode 1: Awake received mostly positive reviews from critics for the character development of Chloe Price and Rachel Amber. (Wikipedia)
- 2018
After a tragic incident, brothers Sean and Daniel Diaz run away from home. Fearing the police, and dealing with Daniel's new telekinetic power, the boys head to Mexico. Each stop on their journey brings new friends and new challenges. (Steam)
Plot
In October 2016, 16-year-old Sean Diaz lives with his 9-year-old brother Daniel and father Esteban (Amador Plascencia) in Seattle , after their mother Karen (Jolene Andersen) left them following Daniel's birth. The day the game begins, Sean intervenes when their neighbor Brett (Robert Shearer) harasses Daniel, inadvertently injuring Brett as a police officer passes by. Esteban arrives at the scene and is shot and killed by the officer. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception The game received "generally positive reviews"—except for PC version, which was met with "mixed or average reviews"—according to review aggregator platform Metacritic . Its portrayal of Hispanic Americans and relation to racial issues in the US was debated in media articles. The game's themes received generally positive reviews. (Wikipedia)
- 2021
Alex Chen hides her 'curse': the psychic power of Empathy, the ability to absorb the emotions of others. When her brother dies in a so-called accident, Alex must embrace her power to find the truth. (Steam)
Plot
In April 2019, Alexandra "Alex" Chen leaves a foster care group home after eight years to reunite with her brother Gabriel "Gabe" Chen in Haven Springs, Colorado . Gabe shows Alex around Haven; many of the townspeople are employed by Typhon, a mining company. Subsequently, Alex meets park ranger Ryan Lucan, radio DJ Stephanie "Steph" Gingrich, local bar owner and Ryan's father Jedediah "Jed" Lucan, flower shop owner Eleanor Lethe, her granddaughter… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Life Is Strange: True Colors received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic . IGN praised the setting of Haven Springs, writing that the game has "arguably the best setting in any Life is Strange game to date". Game Informer liked the writing of the game, stating, " True Colors writing is so strong that it didn't need a supernatural ability to tell this story. (Wikipedia)
- —
Life is Strange - Episode 1
not scoredNo sourced description on file.
Life Is Strange, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Life Is Strange vs other series
How Life Is Strange stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Life Is Strange vs We Were Here, Life Is Strange vs Wolfenstein, Life Is Strange vs Amnesia, Life Is Strange vs Lego Batman, Life Is Strange vs A Plague Tale, Life Is Strange vs Danganronpa, Life Is Strange vs Darksiders, Life Is Strange vs Doki Doki Literature, Life Is Strange vs Dying Light, Life Is Strange vs It Takes Two, Life Is Strange vs Lego Harry Potter, Life Is Strange vs Little Nightmares, Life Is Strange vs Mirror's Edge, Life Is Strange vs Steins;Gate, Life Is Strange vs The Stanley Parable
Common questions
How many Life Is Strange games are there?
We hold 5 Life Is Strange games in the catalogue, released between 2015 and 2021. 4 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Life Is Strange game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Life Is Strange rates highest at 8.4. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Life Is Strange games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2015 to 2021. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.