Critical Play — Mystery

I played the free demo of Life is Strange, then instantly got hooked and had to play the entire game. Really great experience, lots of tears. But this CP is about mystery, so let’s focus on that.

Mystery is presented in this game by presenting you with breadcrumbs of information, waiting until the very end of the game to dump all of the secrets. Notice an email on someone’s computer, a suspicious text message, half of a conversation, these partial pieces of information make you want to keep playing the game. You’re given one piece of the puzzle, so your brain instinctively wants to fit the rest of the pieces together.

Life is Strange also features an episodic structure, and uses the same tactics as TV to keep you hooked by introducing a stunning new mystery or piece of information in the final moments of each episode’s concluding cut scene.