r/TheWalkingDeadGame Mar 19 '21

No Spoilers The Walking Dead Game Series - Beginner's Guide & General FAQ

486 Upvotes

In an effort to help newcomers get into the series as well as help answer some frequently asked questions (and most importantly: unpin the statue post), we’ve created a megathread that is meant to serve as a resource for people getting into the game series.

This thread here will cover some basic questions for the series as a whole. I plan to make separate threads for season specific questions that get asked here a lot, and will eventually link the threads all in here so this post here will act as a giant resource. I'll also probably add this to the sidebar once everything it finished for an easy-to-go to resource.

This entire thread is a work in progress so I will be adding/editing questions over time. If you have any suggestions for questions/resources that would be helpful for newcomers, please comment below or DM me.


"What are these games and why should I get into them?"

The Telltale/Skybound The Walking Dead games are episodic titles with a heavy emphasis on choices and story. These games aren't particularly the most action based titles out there, as they primarily play on making difficult decisions and following along with the deep story as you try to survive in the walker (zombie) apocalypse. They also incorporate puzzle segments seen in other point-and-click titles in the past.

The series has received a ton of praise, with Season 1 winning a ton of Game of the Year awards when it released in 2012. The high ratings of the games have continued through future titles such as Season 2 and Season 4.

"Are the games in the same universe as the comics/show?"

The games are not connected to the TV show at all, as the show is set in its own universe. However, the games are indeed in the same universe as the comics. This is seen through characters such as Glenn and Hershel who appear in the very first episode of the Telltale games, as well as a few other references to the comics across the game series.

"Do I need to read the comics to get into the games?"

Nope, not at all. Outside of a few cameos/references, the games are completely isolated from the comics and can be enjoyed to the fullest without prior knowledge of the TWD series. I would even argue that the games may be a tiny bit more enjoyable if you are going into the series blind.

"There are many versions of the games I can buy! Which version should I get?"

There are three different versions of the games spread across various systems:

  • Original versions: The first versions of the game sold when the episodes/seasons actually released. These are the versions sold individually instead of being bundled with the other seasons.
    • Available on: PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One, Steam, Epic Games, and Switch
      • Note: Michonne spinoff game not on Switch.
  • Collection: (Pic) Released in 2017. Contains all games in the series (including Michonne) with the sole exception being Season 4 which wasn’t released at the time. Seasons 1 and 2 have (supposedly) enhanced graphics.
    • Available on: PS4 & Xbox One.
  • Definitive Edition: (Pic) Released in 2019. Contains all games in the series (including Michonne), as well as a ton of extras like developer commentary, gallery mode, different graphic options, etc.
    • Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Epic Games Store, and Steam.

Keep in mind that the actual games are the same throughout each version. Don’t expect any alternate paths, vastly different plot elements, additional gameplay elements, etc. in between versions.

In a nutshell: Definitive Edition > Originals > Collection

Definitive Edition is definitely the way to go. It greatly improves the visuals of all the first few games and comes with a lot of extras.

The Original versions are the most basic versions that you can't really go wrong with. The main drawback for the original versions is that they probably have the most visual bugs.

The Collection is without a doubt the worst version of the games. as it is missing tons of small details such as bloodstains and tears for crucial scenes. Apparently it even removed a few optional dialogue segments.

"What order should I play the games?"

The following is the chronological order of the series:

  • Season 1
  • 400 Days DLC for Season 1 (this is optional, basically just covers a few minor Season 2 characters)
  • Season 2
  • A New Frontier (aka Season 3)
  • The Final Season (aka Season 4)

The Michonne Telltale game has literally nothing to do with the Lee/Clem/Javi games whatsoever. It is not required at all to experience Clementine’s journey. If you do decide to play it, best to do it before Season 3 since it originally released before A New Frontier.

"I'm interested in the Michonne game, but she's a major character in the comics! Do I need to read the comics before playing it?"

Not really. The Michonne game takes place during a time where Michonne is separated from Rick's group, so she interacts entirely with characters she has never met until the game. As long as you know about the general character of Michonne, you should be able to enjoy the game to its fullest.

It's worth noting that a few of the characters she meets in the game later appear in the comics, while the game was released after their comic debut. Because of this, I'd argue that not knowing about the later portion of the comics can make the game more enjoyable; you won't know which characters will have plot armor or not due to them having to survive to appear in the comics.

"I heard Season 3 was bad! Should I skip it?"

As much as some people disliked this season, you should not skip it. Either get it on sale if you’re strapped for cash or just watch a Youtube playthrough of it. It's the shortest of the first 3 seasons for whatever that is worth so at least it won't take too long.

"What's the deal with Telltale and Skybound? Didn't Telltale shut down in the middle of Season 4? Are they back now?"

All of the TWD games featuring Lee/Clem have been made by Telltale. However when Telltale closed down in late 2018, Skybound (who owns the rights to the overall TWD franchise) agreed to finish the final two episodes of Season 4 by bringing in many former Telltale staff.

Telltale Games has been revived and are now a company again, however they no longer have the rights to the TWD games which is all with Skybound now. All of the other series such as The Wolf Among Us are still with Telltale though.

"Will there be a Season 5 of the games?"

Skybound has confirmed multiple times now that a fifth season is currently not in the works. As it turns out, the game that is actually called The Final Season will indeed be, well, the final season.

"I need more of these games/characters! What else is there?"

There is a spin-off book involving a character in Season 4, but it is not essential as Season 4 ends things on a good note for the series. More on that book below (DO NOT READ THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED SEASON 4!!!)

In 2021, Skybound released a 12 page comic where Clementine sneaks out of Ericson's without telling AJ. Unfortunately for Clem, AJ caught her and begged her to stay, but Clem told AJ that her couldn't maker her happy. The two gave each other a sad farewell (with Clem giving AJ her hat) and Clem left. In the following books, Clem then heads up to Vermont by herself where she meets random characters

The books have received a nearly universal negative reception from TWDG fans, mostly for how it makes Clem act out of character to her game counterpart. I personally would not recommend it unless you are a fan of Tillie Walden's other works and are absolutely sold on the premise of Season 4's ending basically being undone.

Apart from that, Telltale writer Lauren Mee made a brief story on Tumblr that talks about James' past. Additionally, lead writer for Season 4 Michael Kirkbride posted a short story on this very subreddit detailing a certain character's PoV during a "certain scene" in the final game.

"I love this series! What other games should I play if I like this?"

  • Other Telltale games. The best ones that come to mind are The Wolf Among Us, Tales From The Borderlands, and the two Batman games.
  • Life is Strange
  • Until Dawn
  • Detroit: Become Human
  • If you're into the puzzle segments featured a lot in Season 1 then I would recommend: Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, and Sam & Max to name a few.

"I'm interested in trying out the other The Walking Dead games outside of the point-and-click ones! Which ones would you recommend?"

Saints & Sinners is probably the best TWD title outside of the Telltale ones, however it requires a VR headset which some may not have. There's also Road to Survival which is a F2P mobile game. I'm not too familiar with it myself but I've heard it's alright plus it contains the Telltale characters in it.

The only other TWD games out there are Survival Instinct and OVERKILL'S The Walking Dead, both of which are really bad and aren't worth your time.

"I'm confused/interested on something for one of the games!"

Well thankfully we've assembled a link to frequently asked questions for each of the games. You can check it out here. Keep in mind that the FAQ for each season will spoil just about all of the story contents for that season. In other words, don't look at the Season 2 FAQ post before finishing Season 2.


That is all for now. Again if you have any suggestions for some general info about the series as a whole that would be helpful to newcomers/people with questions, please put them down either in the comments of this post or with a DM to me.

Also I'll be taking suggestions for some questions that would be good to add for the Season specific FAQ posts. See my pinned comment below for more detail on that.


r/TheWalkingDeadGame Jan 21 '26

Winner! Winners of r/TheWalkingDeadGame's Best Of 2025 Awards!

25 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

The voting phase of the yearly Best Of awards is now over, so it's time to announce the winners! As explained on the initial Best Of 2025 nomination post, the winners for this year will receive a special flair that will go next to their username. Here are the winners for this year:


Here are the full results for reference (comments mocking those who did not win will be removed so don’t do that, good vibes here only).


If you haven't already, make sure to check out the original Nomination post as it contains tons of love and appreciation for many users and the sub as a whole.

Thanks to everyone for participating!


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 13h ago

Discussion What if instead of Lee it was Tangerine who found Clementine?

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204 Upvotes

How much would the plot change? How different would Clem's personality be?


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 5h ago

Fanart Got inspired so i made this

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31 Upvotes

r/TheWalkingDeadGame 11h ago

No Spoilers You can only save one, who do you save?

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93 Upvotes

r/TheWalkingDeadGame 6h ago

Season 1 Spoiler This was one of the silliest and funniest scenes I saw in the first season lol

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39 Upvotes

r/TheWalkingDeadGame 8h ago

Final Season Spoiler Now what should i do with my life? Spoiler

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36 Upvotes

Just finished The Walking Dead and honestly, what an experience. I didn’t expect to get this attached to the characters. The story, the choices, the emotions… it really hit me. Definitely one of those games I’ll remember for a long time


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 44m ago

I think I solved the Amid the Ruins slide. It’s just pretty lame.

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Upvotes

(SPOILERS)

I think I might have just solved the slide, and I’m not sure if someone else has already thought about it this way, but I think the “Amid the Ruins” slide was actually meant for Episode 3 not Episode 4 and vice versa.

In Episode 3, we see Rebecca looking like she’s about to give birth, but that actually happens in Episode 4. As for the Amid the Ruins slide, I’m pretty sure it was meant to represent the ending of Episode 3, where we escape Howe’s. As you can clearly see, it’s nighttime, which is weird because I don’t think anything major happens at night in ep4 except Rebecca giving birth.That could also explain why they changed Episode 3’s background 3-4 times so it can match up with ep3 theme (look at pic2)

However, at the end of Episode 3, we see the group escaping at nighttime while covering themselves in walker blood, similar to how Clementine is depicted in the slide. The way she’s covered in blood is also pretty similar to what happens in-game. (look at pic3)

As for the silhouettes, we can mostly see characters from the 400 Days DLC standing behind, which could be indicating what happens in-game, where they’re behind you shooting walkers through the roof. (look at pic4)

I also know that in the final game, they changed Wyatt’s silhouette to Kenny’s. But honestly, that kind of makes my theory click even more. Kenny’s silhouette shows him looking a little beaten up and standing behind you, which could represent him having just killed Carver a moment earlier. So I think that might be why they changed the silhouette.(look at pic5&6)

As for Doug and Carley’s silhouettes, which they are standing beside you. I think this could be some kind of foreshadowing that people close to you are going to die and that you can’t save everyone like lee in s1 where he had to save either carley or doug.(look at pic7)

I also know there was a theory that the 400 Days crew were originally supposed to be Arvo’s group, but with my theory, I find that pretty unlikely. The devs said that Arvo’s group was originally supposed to be Spanish-speaking, so I don’t know if it really makes sense for them to have cut the 400 Days crew, only to replace them with a completely different group for no reason 2 times even.

If you have the time and interest, you could probably analyze every silhouette and see what each character in the slide might symbolize.

And I think that’s pretty much it. I know it’s not some crazy “cult abducted everyone” type of theory, but it seems so obvious to me now that I’m surprised I’ve never heard anyone talk about it this way before. If someone has already made this theory and it’s been debunked, I apologize in advance I just haven’t heard of it before.


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 44m ago

Season 1 Spoiler Realistically, do you think Brenda could’ve been redeemed?

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Upvotes

r/TheWalkingDeadGame 12h ago

Season 2 Spoiler If it was Kenny vs Luke in the final episode of Season 2 and the fight started over a custody battle of AJ who would you side with?

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60 Upvotes

I think the main thing that changes whether people would choose Luke over Kenny in this hypothetical fight to the death would be the reasoning for the fight and that's why I've provided a hypothetical reason that I believe makes sense.

The reason it was so easy for me to side with Kenny when he went up against Jane was because of the circumstances surrounding their fight and everything Jane did to provoke him into fighting her (lying about being responsible for AJ's death, escalating the fight into a fight to the death, etc).

If the reasoning for the Kenny vs Luke fight started over a disagreement on where to go next (Kenny wants to go to Wellington and Luke wants to go back to Howe's or somewhere else), which then leads to Luke saying he's gonna split up from Kenny but he wants to take AJ with him since he knew Rebecca and Alvin for years and he deserves to have AJ and raise him on their behalf.

That leads to Kenny getting angry and violent with him which escalates into a fight where things get really violent up until the point where one of them is going to die unless you intervened - who are you choosing to kill?

I feel like this would make players a lot more split since the reasoning for the fight is better and people like Luke a lot more than they did Jane.


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 9h ago

Fanart My Fanart of Vi and Louis

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28 Upvotes

here are Violet and Louis, hope you like them!


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 14h ago

Season 1 Spoiler A legend says that Lee and Clementine can stay together right here, forever.

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46 Upvotes

r/TheWalkingDeadGame 14h ago

Season 1 Spoiler Would Anyone Have Preferred the Cut Content Where You Could've Found the Teacher Legless Instead of Mark?

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44 Upvotes

4 anyone curious, there ws originally a different outcome planned for the teacher trapped in the bear-trap. Whtever happens to him, there is a choice where you can keep the teacher alive; meaning he wouldn't be killed by the walkers but would still be left behind in the woods. If he's left alive, Mark would instead be killed by the bandits while clearing the fence w/ Lee. Then during dinner, you'd find David with his legs gone in the same scene where Mark is found in the final version. You can find the cut content online.

I honestly don't see why they would've removed it. It doesn't seem like it would've changed too much of the story, aside from giving u a reason to leave him alive in the woods.

Still, what do y'all think? Should it had been kept?


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 1h ago

Fanfic what if david was in season 1 part 6

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link to previous part-https://www.reddit.com/r/TheWalkingDeadGame/comments/1w3qy2x/what_if_david_was_in_season_1_part_5/

Episode 2: if clem went with nick it goes as in canon while if clem goes with david and pete the three escape and get stuck in the truck with David bonding with pete, since pete is the most reasonable of the cabin group second to luke and alvin. Because Pete wasn't bit he runs with David and Clem if she went with them, getting to the cabin with Clem already being there if she went with Nick. The cabin group goes to find Nick, Carlos asking David and Clem to keep an eye on Sarah, they go upstairs and find Sarah playing with a gun, David telling her sternly to put it down. Sarah apologizes and says she was interested in learning how to use one, David suggesting that Clem should teach Sarah how to use it with David helping Clem teach Sarah how to use it if Clem chooses to teach her. Carver arrives with David trying to lock the door but carver opens it before david can close it, giving the same speech to David as he does to clem while clem and sarah hide, david not being able to get him to leave since carver has a gun. The others return and everyone leaves, over the five days of traveling David's opinions of the cabin group mellows, David not minding Rebecca now since she’s not acting like she was before but he still finds Nick annoying at times and doesn't like Carlos too much. David and Pete try to convince Carlos to prepare Sarah for how the world is since their travels,David being blunt but since Pete is also backing up what David says, Carlos eventually agrees, saying he’ll train her. David joins Luke and Clem on the bridge, making things easier and there being no close calls, instead of Matthew, Chuck is on the bridge, Clem and David being happy to see Chuck again and mentions he has a surprise to show them. He takes the group to the lodge, meeting sarita, mathew and walter but david and clem are surprised to see that mark, kenny, katja, duck, ben also at the lodge. David and Clem talk to Kenny and Mark, with Mark saying that he and Chuck having met Sarita after Savannah while Kenny explains that his family and Ben had eventually run out of fuel for the boat and ran into the lodge finding Mark and Chuck there. Clem chooses to either sit with the season 1 and lodge characters or the cabin group although the scenes are less tense than in canon. Later bonnie shows up and walter gives her some supplies with david going with luke and kenny, walter always saves nick since there's now reason to not save him, Clem either stays inside or climbs out the window to find David, kenny and luke, if she climbs out the window clem only finds david and kenny, they both take one shot, one shot hitting a grunt and the other grazing carvers shoulders, in response carvers gets up and first kills walter but instead of picking pete since theres more people he takes chuck, leaving pete alive because theres more people chose from he doesn't know and he could be useful, carver kills chuck before taking katia, forcing the three to surrender, ending the episode.  

episode 3: the group are in the back of the truck, since kenny’s family is still alive he doesn't have the character growth he has in canon so he is less aggressive in the van and doesn't suggest getting clem to untie his binds. It would be david to do it instead, taking the role of kenny except more aggressive The group eventually arrive at howes and are forced in the pen, during the walk to the pen if christa and omid joined howes in 400days similar to the 400days characters they have a quick cameo. In a similar vain if stephanie joined with shel and becca shell be with them in their cameo, alvin is taken by carver and clem is able to talk people and look around, she can now talk to mark, ben, katja, duck, david, checking up on them and seeing how they are before going to sleep for the night. The next morning carver talks to the group and forces carlos to slap sarah when she talks while he is talking, pete is taken up to the office to talk to carver while clem helps bonnie then is taken to the garden along with duck, duck helping clem comfort sarah and decide to help sarah when she doesn't do anything, with duck there the three are able to cut all the flowers resulting in reggie living. Then clem takes the nails to kenny and mike with david and mark being stationed with them, again since kenny isn’t the same as in canon he and mike don’t get in confrontation, walkers breach the wall and clem meets luke and he explains his plan to clem. When Carver gives his speech to clem he mentions how pete can be useful, if he's able to make pete stop resisting carvers leadership it’ll discourage the others from escaping again but says pete hasn’t given up yet. then clem is taken back to the pen, joining in on the group talking about what to do to escape, Clem goes to get the radio then returns. The next day Clems goes to give the radio to Luke but is found by Troy, Clem, David, Kenny, Mark and Mike are taken back to the pen and they see that Luke has been found. Instead of kenny david is the one to take the radio from clem, resulting in him being the one beaten by carver, as carver beats him kenny would attempt to help david but like if clem does it is knocked down by troy. Bonnie comes and stops carver from beating on David, later the group discuss what to do with most of the group wanting to leave and not stay, David wakes up and clem goes to turn on the sound system with alvin shooting hank, carver holds the group hostage then clem jumps on his back. It’s david is the one to shoot carver instead of kenny since kennys he’s has a different personality than in canon, like kenny david beats carver with clem either watching or not but much worse than kenny since in canon he was willing to fight his brother so he would fuck carver up worse. The group prepare to leave and while leaving Troy shows up so Jane kills him, Carlos is shot and Sarah runs, since there's a lot more people than in canon one more person would die during the chaos, with it being Matthew. Mathew getting grabbed and mauled by a bunch of walkers, instead of sarita its katja then is bitten by a walker and Clem either cuts off her arm or kills the zombie.


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 15h ago

Fanart Aero-plane

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49 Upvotes

Sadly, could not find the artist but this is where I found it Source


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 1d ago

Fanart I drew Clementine

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633 Upvotes

I'll be honest I'm not that good at drawing but I tried my best


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 4h ago

Final Season Spoiler TWDG Retelling: Part 274 (Top comment decides what happens next)

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6 Upvotes

r/TheWalkingDeadGame 2h ago

The Walking Dead A New Frontier - Overhauled 2/2

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5 Upvotes

r/TheWalkingDeadGame 9h ago

Fanart Practiced coloring by drawing Clementine's hat

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10 Upvotes

I've been drawing for a mouse for a while and I might get a drawing tablet soon so I've been practicing coloring/shading


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 6h ago

Clementine and Negan.

5 Upvotes

Hey, good afternoon everyone.

I'm new to the community. I have a question: I saw something on YouTube—and in a Reddit post here—about a potential meeting between Clementine and Negan. What do you guys think about that? Would it be cool?

Because, man, having Clementine looked after by Negan and living among the Saviors would be badass. There's also a theory that if this meeting happened, it would explain that huge scar Negan has on his side.


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 5h ago

Final Season Spoiler just finished the game series and heard about the comics...

4 Upvotes

that ending was so good like the journey clementine went through, all the lives lost. lee, luke, carley, omid, christa (maybe she died? idk) then she finally finds a place she and aj can call home for the time being, she gets along with everyone and its such a good place to leave off, they should've just left it there, no more games no comics.

then after beating the final season i wanted to know what happened after so i searched it up and im kinda disappointed. you're telling me clementine just leaves the school because she "doesnt feel happy" not only that but just leaves aj too? not only that but expresses resentment to lee??? she would never do that tho. if anything lee would be disappointed that clem would do something like leaving aj. everyone that died for clem would be disappointed except for maybe jane. these comics make me think that everyone died for nothing.

just having a hard time believing this is canon since the final season was a pretty damn good ending but of course the comics have to exist. also her not having the scars on her face in the comics makes me believe that its an alternate timeline but they have said it was canon so idk.

if they make another game relating to clem, i hope they forget the entire clementine comic series and just continue from where the final season left off.


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 3h ago

Season 3 Spoiler Was there a reason for the art style change?

2 Upvotes

r/TheWalkingDeadGame 9h ago

Video Was Ben’s age at all confirmed?

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6 Upvotes

When it comes to Ben his age is constantly estimated than having an exact number. The Walking Dead fandom Wiki listed this as their supposed reference for him being seventeen years old but I question how legit it is, since I never saw it acknowledged and can’t check the source for myself because it’s age-restricted and I’m not going to give YouTube my personal information just to verify my age, so if someone could check it out for me and post the proof, I’d appreciate it.


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 8h ago

Discussion Should I read the comics

3 Upvotes

Just got done with twd telltale definitive addition and platinum it and afterwards I heard of the clementine comics by a yt post I asked if I should read em cause I love all twd projects well most of em I gotta get to the spinoffs like daryl Dixon, dead city and the ones who live last thing I’ve watched was the last season of twd, anyway off topic lol, but what I got from said yt post was that it’s genuine dogshit and that it ruins the character, so I was just wondering if it’s as dogshit as everyone says it is


r/TheWalkingDeadGame 1d ago

Meme Nonchalant

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167 Upvotes