Tell Me Why is an episodic narrative-driven adventure game developed by DONTNOD Entertainment (of Life Is Strange fame) and published by XBOX. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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. I am so glad I did because this was one of the most engrossing and emotional stories I’ve ever experienced. 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. Spoilers from this point on.
One of the game’s most prominent themes is the use of memories. Most media portrays memories as either frayed from amnesia, or mostly complete and perfect. 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.
Throughout the game, it is slowly revealed that Tyler and Alyson have different memories about what happened on that fateful night. Tyler’s memories depict his mother as constantly angry, aggressive, and hostile, why Alyson has a slightly more sympathetic view of her. 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.
It soon becomes increasingly clear that their mother had serious mental health problems. Abused as a child, having children out of wedlock, and trying to live self sufficiently, she was growing increasingly isolated from her community. While she relied on the twins for company, she couldn’t properly take care of them as her mental health deteriorated. When it’s revealed that a close family friend called Child Protective Services, it pushed the mother over the edge. Whether she was trying to harm the twins or just herself is something that Alyson and Tyler have to decide for themselves.
The game takes great care not to show self-harm or on-screen suicides at any point, and makes it clear that what happened was tragic and preventable. Their mother needed help and support and wasn’t getting it, either because she was refusing it out of pride or because her friends were starting to give up on her. I found this super refreshing because a lot of games either have endings that have romanticized self-inflicted deaths for the main character (Transistor) or have achievements where the player character either assists in or doesn’t prevent a NPC’s suicide (including two of my favourite games, Blasphemous and Hollow Knight). Tell Me Why does neither of those things, which is super gratifying to see. The game also makes sure to include a suicide hotline at the end of the game with this important message:
“If you or anyone you know are struggling with suicidal thoughts or experiencing emotional crisis, you can find help using these resources. You matter, and we need you in the world.”
Another thing I really appreciated about this game was how maturely it handled its political opposition. In too many media (both conservative and liberal), the opposing political side is often portrayed as cartoonishly evil and stupid. Tell Me Why takes a left-leaning political stance, but does so without demonizing the right.
One of the more significant NPCs is Tessa, a friend of the family and a Catholic Filipina. While it is made clear that she has the wrong idea about LGBTQ+ people, she’s not portrayed as a Bible-thumping bigot and isn’t made the butt of a joke. Throughout the game it is possible to get her to change her view of Tyler and accept him. This is really important for a lot of people to see; that others can change and be better (or at least more tolerant and accepting) and that you don’t have to make your political opponents complete caricatures.
Those are just two things I found really remarkable about this game. It also takes great measures to get trans, mental health, and Indigenous representation right by actually consulting different advocacy groups. They have a list of their resources that includes GLAAD and the Huna Heritage Foundation, and while I am not a trans man (I’m demigender) or Indigenous, I have to say it was nice to see those people represented without resorting to offensive stereotypes. Tyler’s deadname is never revealed and his body is never fetishized or ogled at. While the ups and downs of being trans are part of his character, he isn’t constantly seen as suffering and wishing he was cis; he’s proud to be trans and happy with his body.
As for Indigenous rep, the game includes members of a real, named nation (the Tlingit) and makes references to their culture without othering them. One of the characters, Michael, is even a romanceable option for Tyler and is portrayed as a truly supportive, empathetic friend. The Native characters are allowed to be people without resorting to harmful portrayals; there are alcoholics in this game, but the Tlingit characters are not them.
And best of all? DONTNOD and XBOX made the whole game free for the entirety of Pride Month. Take note, corporations that change to rainbow icons for one month: THIS is how you prove your allyship. Don’t just pinkwash your current products, make actual LGBTQ+ inclusive products and make them easily available and accessible!
Tell Me Why is a fantastic game that deserves more attention and support. If you don’t mind walking simulations/interactive stories with simplified gameplay and where your choices affect the game’s outcome, you should give this a chance. Anyone who is interested in great stories and complex characters in any format should play this game for sure. You can get it right now completely free on Steam and XBOX One.
The Flying Red Robot 