Update: Developer DONTNOD has now confirmed our suspicions that Tell Me Why is available for free as part of Pride Month, and will be free until June 30. The hope is for trans and queer gamers to find something within the game, with the developer even going as far as suggesting other means of donating your money.
Our intention in making Tell Me Why free for June 2021 is both to allow even more people to access the game and to encourage our players to spend their money in places that will directly affect trans and queer communities.
Amongst the recommendations is to support "interactive fiction from trans and queer independent developers", donate to trans communities or mutual aid fund, or even give "directly to a trans or queer person in need". It's a lovely message to convey to the gaming and LGBTQ+ community, and a fantastic example of a developer using their platform to inspire and encourage others.
Original Story: Well here's a nice way to start the week. For the next 30 days, Tell Me Why Chapters 1-3 is now free to claim, download and play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Originally, Chapter 1 was made free for anyone interested to download and try it out, but it now appears Xbox users can get their hands on the full experience. It's currently available to download on the Microsoft Store, but no official word has come from Xbox at the time of writing. We're assuming it may be an extra perk as part of Pride Month, so we may hear something later today.
In this intimate mystery, reunited twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan use their supernatural bond to unravel the memories 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.
This is a lovely addition to the batch of Games with Gold games that are now also currently available. We're never going to turn our noses up at free titles, and we rather enjoyed our time with it when it released back in August last year. If you're a fan of the Life is Strange series or similar games, this is one not to miss out on.
Will you be checking out Tell Me Why? Let us know in the comments below.
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[source microsoft.com]
Comments 21
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Tell Me Why is one of the best - if not the best - Xbox exclusives, and I will f**king die on that hill.
Think this was the first game is played through gamepass on PC? Either way it got me into playing the telltale games as i enjoyed the interactive movie type game. Not sure if I'll ever replay it but i claimed the game. It was great, not on the same hill as VenomousAlbino but definitely enjoyed the game.
"I want it that way"
Clearly Daniel is a man of culture.
The game wasn't available on Gamepass (or Steam for that matter) in Turkey, assuming because of the nonbinary gender themes. But now I was able to add this to my Xbox account for free and download the game. Thanks for the heads up!
Game was great.
It's a good game, though I didn't connect with it as much as Life is Strange (by far the best) or LiS2 (slow, but by the end I cared).
By comparison the story and both Alyson and Tyler didn't grab me in quite the same way. Still glad I played it.
Really enjoyed this. As a result, bought and played Life is strange 1 and Before the storm since. Bought 2 and starting that soon.
I played it on gamepass and enjoyed it, nice to see its free. Thanks xbox!
@brunojenso Yeah I mean I'm bisexual and I have never been a fan of all these terms and labels everyone tries to apply these days. I think it just shows off a lot of confusion in this day and age, which is natural on the subject of sexuality, and I am glad people are more willing to embrace their differences and accept people who don't fit the norm, but that said we shouldn't get carried away and turn it into tribalism. I think that's the problem with being obsessed with labels and pronouns, we lose sight of our humanity and what brings us together in a pursuit of being this or that to divide ourselves from other. Like all things it needs balance and maturity.
@JayJ Wise words my friend - I agree with everything you've said there, and feel many humans are making the same mistake of turning correctness into a dividing obsession in a few other related areas to. A balance is always needed between addressing what must be addressed, but not focusing upon it to an extreme. I'm also, or was, bisexual (I'm happily and intentionally non-active now and have be some time). Speaking honestly and frankly, once we have established a respect for one another, I personally find what sexuality any particular person is to be a very boring subject. There are far more interesting aspects to people (and other creatures). So although I respect the artistic freedom of games like this, it's subject doesn't sound like something i'm interested in playing at all. Maybe I'll try it, but the characters just seem dull to me. Still new areas of expression in video games is a very welcome thing for when, you know, the occasional time we've had our fill of ripping and tearing in Doom.
@brunojenso Well said, agreed, I can definitely relate to you.
I honestly didn't find this game particularly interesting either. To be honest I didn't really enjoy any of the Life is Strange games besides Before the Storm, I think the concept work best as straight up story based adventure games and the sci-fi elements always seem to ruin them for me, but that's just my take.
@Deadcow isn't this game supposed to be about trans people I've not played it because I'm not LGBT but it sounds like that's what it's about
@Deadcow Yeah that just sounds like terrible storytelling - the subject matter sounds irrelevant but enforced upon the player.
Loved this game. Beautiful storytelling - although you do get a lot more out of it when you show interest in characters in the village you're returning to.
Meh, not a big fan of these games that forces an agenda onto the player.
@Mr-Fuggles777 "other people that are not like me exist in the world" = "agenda" 🙄
@Tharsman constantly emphasising the fact that Tyler is Trans without it adding any weight to the story = Agenda.
Why can't a Trans character be written without it being THE defining feature of that character? He's written as a bunch of cliché transgender characteristics and buzzwords with no personality.
@Mr-Fuggles777 The twins believe that their mother wanted to kill Tyler because he was different, and then they go on a mission to find out if this was actually the case or if there are some other reasons to explain their mother's behaviour. I think it definitely adds plenty of weight to the story. It basically sets the whole premise for why they decided to stick around for a while longer and do some investigating in their hometown instead of moving on with their lives immediately after reuniting.
@LtSarge I might give it another shot as the full game is free but it just felt really heavy handed for me.
@Mr-Fuggles777 sounds like you didn’t play the game because it was literally an important part of the whole story.
It is also not “constantly emphasized” beyond what would be expected. They are twins and had not talked in years, they are catching up through the story, and Tyler was still in the process of transitioning so it is a natural topic for them to talk about, even if it wasn’t what they thought their mother wanted to kill them over.
If you had a male character in a story talking about their girlfriend, would you consider it was “throwing a heteronormative agenda” in your face too?
Was going to download it, But after reading the comments on the store page of the game on the Xbox itself, Decided not too. A lot of negative reviews.
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