Telltale Games

The Wolf Among Us hands players the answer with multiple choice deductions. Bigby picks up evidence and the player answers a multiple choice question about its significance. Mark Brown says this prompts the answer and kills the satisfaction of deducing it.

With a few options on screen, players pick whichever sounds most sensible or just guess. Brown: "the very act of testing whether the player has figured stuff out, can inadvertently give away the answer". Being told they got it right then feels hollow.

Telltale choices dent the plot but rarely change it. Until Dawn follows Telltale's choice model, which includes false choices, characters who can't die until late, and branches that snap back to a central point. Brown says that is fine, because making a choice often matters more than seeing unique results.

Endless branches are expensive, so the meters, recaps and consequence screens are partly theatre. Brown: "simply making choices is often more fulfilling than seeing wildly unique consequences play out."

Telltale's early games have characters spill hints after a set time. When a player stalls, a character gives a hint once a set time has passed. Brown counts this among the modern conveniences that soften dead ends.

Hint systems like this keep stuck players moving without removing the puzzle.