It’s a well-established tradition at this point and so it’s maybe not the newsiest of news, but it’s also one you may not have heard of previously and hey, a free game is a free game—and for the sixth year in a row, Dontnod’s award-winning narrative adventure Tell Me Why is free for Pride Month.
Superficially, Tell Me Why sounds like what you’d expect from the creators of Life is Strange: “Reunited twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan use their supernatural bond to unravel the mysteries of their loving but troubled childhood. Set in beautiful small-town Alaska, Tell Me Why features true-to-life characters, mature themes and gripping choices.”
And, like Life is Strange, Tell Me Why doesn’t shy away from LGBTQ+ themes: One of the twins, Tyler, is trans, and his struggles with his identity and the prejudices he faces form an integral part of the story.
It’s not great—we gave it a 69% score in our 2020 review, which for the record is still quite good on our scale—but “while there are missteps” in Tyler’s character, reviewer Sam Greer wrote, “they’re at least well meaning, and the game goes to great lengths to respect Tyler’s identity like few games of this scope ever have—even if it de-fangs some of the realities you might expect him to be dealing with.”
In what has become a much shittier Pride Month tradition, fuelled by (I’m just guessing here, but I’d put real money on it) ignorance, insecurity, and performative heterosexuality, it’s also time for the annual Tell Me Why review bombing: It’s an undersized thing, really, and happily dwarfed in comparison by the corresponding influx of positive reviews, but nonetheless a bit dismaying that some people still feel the need to do this.
As far as I can tell, Dontnod hasn’t made a public announcement of the freebie just yet—maybe they don’t reckon it’s news at this point either—so we’ll refer back to the studio’s 2025 request: “As in past years, we ask that you give your money and support to trans creators, trans-inclusive charities in your community, and trans people in need.”
Tell Me Why is free on Steam until June 30, and If you prefer, you can also pick it up on Xbox.
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