While the narrative-focused, heavily immersive The Walking Dead series ended in 2018, many alternative video games guarantee a similar experience.
Few video games place such a significant emphasis on interaction with others, choice-making, and empathy-driven plot as The Walking Dead. Telltale Games’ title influenced the industry, establishing a new direction in which it could move.
Instead of simple zombie-fighting, many alternatives began to offer something more – reflection on human nature, the essence of relationships, and the will to survive in hostile conditions.
If you miss the complex nature of The Walking Dead series, games on this list may cure that sensation.
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Dark Pictures Anthology Man Of Medan | 2019-08-30 | Adventure | Supermassive Games |
 | Undying | 2021-10-19 | Adventure | Vanimals Games |
 | State Of Decay 2 Juggernaut Edition | 2018-05-22 | Action & Shooter | Undead Labs |
 | State Of Decay | 2013-11-05 | Simulation | Undead Labs |
 | Dead Rising 2 | 2010-09-27 | Horror | Blue Castle Games |
 | Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition | 2014-09-05 | Adventure | Capcom Game Studio Vancouver |
 | The Last Of Us Part I | 2023-03-28 | Adventure | Naughty Dog |
 | Night In The Woods | 2017-02-21 | Action & Shooter | Infinite Fall |
 | The Wolf Among Us | 2013-10-11 | Adventure | Telltale Games |
 | Days Gone | 2021-05-18 | Action | SIE Bend Studio |
 | A Plague Tale Innocence | 2019-05-14 | Adventure | Asobo Studio |
 | Life Is Strange True Colors | 2021-09-09 | Adventure | Deck Nine |
 | Life Is Strange Complete Season Episodes 1 5 | 2015-01-29 | Adventure | DON'T NOD |
 | Life Is Strange 2 Complete Season | 2018-09-27 | Adventure | DONTNOD Entertainment |
 | Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy Remastered | 2015-01-28 | Adventure | Quantic Dream |
 | The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter | 2014-09-25 | Adventure | The Astronauts |
Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit)
| Release date: | 2015-01-28 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Quantic Dream |
Like in TWD, you can pick dialogue options to witness how your decisions shape the story outcome. Is there anything better than story-driven titles where choices matter?
See an alternative version of New York, where people die in unexplainable circumstances. One of the heroes of this plot is Lucas Kane – a man who may or may not be the culprit of these horrific acts. Only Carla Valenti can solve that case, and you can choose between these two playable characters. Make decisions, connect the clues, and discover what this confusing intrigue is really about.
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Life Is Strange
| Release date: | 2015-01-29 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | DON'T NOD |
Sharing TWD’s episodic format, narrative-driven nature, and gameplay based on challenging choices, Life is Strange is like its sister game regarding all the fan-favorite features.
Life is Strange follows the story of Max, a girl with the power of manipulating time, returning to her hometown. Struggling with bizarre visions, the heroine encounters many unique personalities and makes difficult decisions determining their future. Like The Walking Dead, the game delivers an intensely emotional sense of uncertainty in the face of unpredictable events, and each choice is as realistically challenging as the problems we encounter in real life.
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The Last of Us
| Release date: | 2023-03-28 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Naughty Dog |
Regarding the overall vibe, the relationship between the two protagonists, the post-apocalyptic setting, and the presence of human-like characters, no game is more similar to TWD than The Last of Us.
Follow the story of Ellie and Joel – two protagonists coping with a world decaying after a massive infection of the Cordyceps fungus. Remaining humans are doing everything to survive this reality – but many of them hide intentions worse than the spreading plague. You get to navigate through this ruined world to decide the fate of its inhabitants and see how each choice affects the story’s outcome.
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The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
| Release date: | 2014-09-25 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | The Astronauts |
By ditching combat, this game emphasizes narrative features, focusing on providing a plot-twist-filled, immersive experience.
When private detective Paul Prospero receives a letter from Ethan Carter, the missing boy, he quickly travels to Red Creek Valley only to discover that Ethan’s kidnappers are dead. Using his paranormal abilities, the man begins a challenging investigation to unravel what happened to the boy and who’s the culprit behind these horrific murders.
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UNDYING
| Release date: | 2021-10-19 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Vanimals Games |
Fans of The Walking Dead remember how the last seasons revolved around the story of a mother trying to save her child in the face of a ravaging zombie apocalypse. It is what Undying is all about!
Angling was bitten by one of the undead, and now she must do everything to save her son, Cody. As time flies, her infection progresses, so the woman tries to teach the kid everything she knows about surviving the zombie apocalypse before the virus kills her. Only you can decide whether she will achieve this goal!
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Days Gone
| Release date: | 2021-05-18 |
| Genre: | Action |
| Developer: | SIE Bend Studio |
Characters that evolve and grow as a person in hostile environments are one of the features that make games like Days Gone and TWD so intense.
Deacon St. John is a former biker and current bounty hunter. A man tries to survive the harsh reality of omnipresent zombies and find a reason to live. Through interactions with others, moral dilemmas, and challenging choices, he can discover his goal in this cruel world.
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State Of Decay 2
| Release date: | 2018-05-22 |
| Genre: | Action & Shooter |
| Developer: | Undead Labs |
If you’ve ever wondered what you would do if you were the survivors of The Walking Dead, this game lets you try out that scenario!
SoD 2 presents a grim world many years after the zombie apocalypse. The undead are everywhere, and the remaining humans try to survive these highly hostile circumstances. Your job is to lead a group of survivors by switching between separate individuals. You can develop them, discover their stories, fight, and scavenge for resources – solo or in multiplayer.
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Dead Rising series
| Release date: | 2010-09-27 |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Developer: | Blue Castle Games |
In addition to the zombie-infested world, there is another crucial feature connecting both video games – every decision matters.
Play as Frank West to face the brutal reality of the omnipresent undead. Regardless of the installation, your main task is to survive and explore the available location in search of weapons and solutions to this challenging situation. But be careful – in this game, every choice matters and may decide which of the multiple endings you will have a chance to see.
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Are you wondering how there are so many zombies and apocalyptic video games? You may not be aware that the undead and the end of the world represent universal contraries to human life.
That’s why we love stories of people dealing with similar circumstances – they show what it means to remain human in the most challenging scenarios.
And when implanted in such delightfully constructed narratives as those on this list, they have the power to become truly unforgettable.