It soon becomes increasingly clear that their mother had serious mental health problems. When they find a huge clue that their mother may have been more accepting of her transgender son than they initially thought, they investigate their small town for more hints on what might have been going on in their mother’s head when the tragedy struck. Tyler’s memories depict his mother as constantly angry, aggressive, and hostile, why Alyson has a slightly more sympathetic view of her. Throughout the game, it is slowly revealed that Tyler and Alyson have different memories about what happened on that fateful night. Tell Me Why, on the other hand, makes it a point that memories aren’t always perfect and, in a lot of cases, can be biased or influenced by outside factors. Most media portrays memories as either frayed from amnesia, or mostly complete and perfect.

One of the game’s most prominent themes is the use of memories. It also handles complex themes and mature subject matter with grace, and I’m going to talk about how I think other game developers can incorporate them into their own stories. I am so glad I did because this was one of the most engrossing and emotional stories I’ve ever experienced.

However, when I saw that the full game would be completely free for the entirety of June, I took the plunge and gave it a go. When I first heard about the game I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play it because, while critic reviews were generally positive, player reviews could be rather negative. The game broke ground for being the first game made by a major studio to have a playable transgender character (Tyler), although it wasn’t as successful as its predecessor. They initially plan to just clean up the house in order to sell it, but in the process end up revisiting their old memories and try to uncover the truth about their past–and their trauma.

Released in 2020, the game tells the story of twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan reuniting after 10 years and revisiting their old house, where tragedy struck when they were children that led to the death of their mother and Tyler being sent away. Tell Me Why is an episodic narrative-driven adventure game developed by DONTNOD Entertainment (of Life Is Strange fame) and published by XBOX.

Michael and tyler tell me why