Life Is Strange Games in Order: Release Order, Story Order and Where to Start
Life is Strange has grown from a single episodic experiment in 2015 into a full series spanning two developers, several protagonists and a shared universe that occasionally loops back on itself. Newcomers usually ask two separate questions at once: what order the games came out in, and what order the stories actually happen in. This guide answers both, then tells you where to jump in without spoiling the series’ biggest moments.
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Short answer: The release order is Life is Strange (2015), Life is Strange: Before the Storm (2017), The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (2018), Life is Strange 2 (2018–2019), Life is Strange: True Colors (2021), the Remastered Collection (2022) and Life is Strange: Double Exposure (2024). Play in release order for your first run, because the first game’s ending is the emotional anchor everything else is built around.
| Game | Platform | Genre | Why It’s Great | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life is Strange | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch, Mobile | Narrative adventure | Rewind mechanic turns every choice into a puzzle, and the Max and Chloe relationship carries the whole series | 5/5 |
| Life is Strange: Before the Storm | PC, PS4, Xbox, Switch | Narrative adventure | Backtalk dialogue duels and a Chloe-led prequel that recontextualises the original | 4/5 |
| Life is Strange 2 | PC, PS4, Xbox, Switch, macOS | Narrative road trip | A brother-raising-brother story where your example shapes Daniel’s morality across five episodes | 4.5/5 |
| Life is Strange: True Colors | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch | Narrative adventure | Released complete rather than episodically, with the series’ warmest small-town setting | 4.5/5 |
| Life is Strange: Double Exposure | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch | Narrative mystery | Max returns with timeline-shifting powers in a genuine murder investigation | 4/5 |
| Tell Me Why | PC, Xbox | Narrative adventure | Dontnod’s twin-siblings mystery with the same emotional register and a strong Alaskan setting | 4/5 |
| Oxenfree | PC, consoles, mobile | Supernatural adventure | Naturalistic walk-and-talk dialogue over a genuinely unsettling radio mystery | 4.5/5 |
| Night in the Woods | PC, consoles | Narrative adventure | Sharp writing about post-industrial small-town drift, funny and devastating in equal measure | 4.5/5 |
Life Is Strange Games in Order of Release
Life is Strange (2015) arrived in five episodes from Dontnod Entertainment. You play Max Caulfield, a photography student who discovers she can rewind time, investigating a disappearance in the coastal town of Arcadia Bay.
Before the Storm (2017) came from Deck Nine, a three-episode prequel set three years earlier starring Chloe Price, with a bonus episode called Farewell. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (2018) was a free standalone chapter introducing Chris Eriksen. Life is Strange 2 (2018–2019) followed the Diaz brothers across five episodes. True Colors (2021) introduced Alex Chen in Haven Springs, the Remastered Collection (2022) rebuilt the first two games, and Double Exposure (2024) brought Max back as the lead.
Life Is Strange Games in Chronological Story Order
If you have already finished the series once and want a chronological replay, the order changes. Start with Before the Storm, set in 2010, followed by its Farewell bonus episode which reaches even further back into Max and Chloe’s childhood. Then play the original Life is Strange, set in October 2013.
After that comes Captain Spirit and Life is Strange 2, both set in 2016 and directly connected, since Chris appears in the second game. True Colors follows, and Double Exposure sits latest of all, taking place years after Arcadia Bay with an older Max working as a photographer in residence at a snowbound university.
Do You Need to Play Them in Order at All?
Each entry tells a self-contained story with its own protagonist, so you can technically start anywhere. In practice there is one hard rule: play the original before Double Exposure. Double Exposure directly follows on from the first game’s ending and asks you which choice you made, so playing it first spoils the single most discussed decision in the series.
Before the Storm also lands harder after the original rather than before it, because so much of its weight comes from knowing where these characters end up. True Colors and Life is Strange 2 are the two safest entry points for someone who wants a complete story in a single sitting or two.
What Each Protagonist’s Power Actually Does
Max rewinds time, letting you replay conversations and see outcomes before committing. Chloe has no supernatural ability at all; Before the Storm replaces the rewind with Backtalk, a dialogue duel where you turn an opponent’s words against them. Sean Diaz has no power either, but his younger brother Daniel develops telekinesis, and the game is really about what Daniel learns from watching you.
Alex Chen reads and absorbs strong emotions as coloured auras, which turns investigation into emotional archaeology. In Double Exposure, Max’s ability has shifted from rewinding to moving between two parallel timelines, which drives the murder-mystery structure. Each power is a mechanical expression of the game’s central theme, which is why the series holds together despite the cast changing constantly.
Remastered Versus Original: Which Should You Buy?
The Remastered Collection covers the first game and Before the Storm with updated character models, redone lighting and full facial motion capture in place of the original hand-authored animation. Purists sometimes prefer the original art direction on the first game, arguing the softer painterly look suited Arcadia Bay better, while the remaster is unambiguously the better version of Before the Storm.
Either version runs comfortably on modest hardware, which makes the series a great fit for laptops and handhelds. If you are shopping, a gaming laptop buying guide and a handheld gaming PC buying guide will both point you at machines that handle these games at high settings without a large budget.
Getting the Most Out of a Story-First Playthrough
These are games about listening. Turn subtitles on, explore every optional interaction, and take the time to sit on benches when the game offers, because those moments carry some of the best writing in the series. The licensed soundtracks are a genuine part of the storytelling, so audio quality is not a luxury here.
A decent gaming headset buying guide is unusually relevant for this series given how much of the emotional weight lives in the music and voice performances. For the same reason a gaming monitor buying guide that covers colour accuracy matters more than raw refresh rate, since these games lean heavily on lighting and colour grading.
Where the Series Goes Next
Deck Nine has now made more Life is Strange games than Dontnod, and Double Exposure explicitly reopened the original timeline rather than closing it, which suggests the series intends to keep building on Max’s story rather than starting fresh each time. Dontnod meanwhile continues making spiritual successors such as Tell Me Why and Lost Records, which share the same emotional DNA under a different name.
For anyone building a backlog around this genre, the practical advice is simple: these games reward long uninterrupted sessions, so comfort matters. A gaming chair buying guide is worth reading before a weekend binge, and a gaming controller buying guide helps if you prefer playing narrative games from the sofa rather than at a desk.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the correct order to play the Life is Strange games?
For a first playthrough, use release order: the original Life is Strange, then Before the Storm, Captain Spirit, Life is Strange 2, True Colors and finally Double Exposure. This preserves every reveal in the correct sequence, particularly the original game’s ending, which Double Exposure builds directly upon and would otherwise spoil.
Are the Life is Strange games connected to each other?
Loosely, yes. Each game features a different protagonist and largely self-contained story, but characters, locations and references cross between entries, Captain Spirit leads directly into Life is Strange 2, and Double Exposure is a direct sequel to the original that asks you to confirm the choice you made in Arcadia Bay.
Can I start with Life is Strange: True Colors?
Yes. True Colors is the most newcomer-friendly entry because it launched as a complete game rather than episodically, features an entirely new cast in Haven Springs, and requires no prior knowledge. Many players use it as an entry point and then go back to the original to understand the wider series references.
Is the Remastered Collection worth buying over the originals?
It depends on which game matters most to you. The remaster of Before the Storm is a clear improvement thanks to full facial motion capture, while opinions on the first game are split because the original’s softer painted aesthetic suited Arcadia Bay. Both versions contain identical stories and choices, so neither is a wrong purchase.
