Life is Strange

Life is Strange's large evidence board pushes players to find real connections. Players pick the right clues from a large board to work out where Nathan Prescott took someone after a party. The number of options pushes them to look for dates, times and details like a broken taillight on a number plate photo, and a wrong pick earns a small hint.

The question text still tells the player there is a puzzle to solve, which can feel like a condescending know-it-all checking your attention. Mark Brown says that makes the player feel "less like Sherlock, and more like Watson". He says the board "encourages you to look for actual connections".

Before the Storm sets subtitles large enough to read from across a room. Life is Strange: Before the Storm is held up as a good example of subtitle size. Tiny subtitles are "probably the most common mistake" in this area, often made to protect immersion.

Players who need subtitles want to read dialogue quickly, especially mid-combat when attention is split. The advice is to size the default so it reads from across a room and to add a size option. Assassin's Creed Origins also uses large text, while Borderlands 2 has tiny, hard to read subtitles.

Life is Strange's button-prompt actions lose the feel of direct control. Max plays guitar, waters a plant and takes photos, but each action is only a simple contextual button prompt. That drains the interactions of tactile feel.

Players "lose out on the fact that directly controlling the action can be tactile and playful, or lead to challenge and mastery." Monument Valley and The Room on iPad show the alternative, where you poke, pull and twist the world directly.