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.
"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.
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:
Best Fanfic - u/EmpleadoResponsable for "The Walking Dead Retelling: Ben Story", an alternate universe retelling of TWDG featuring Ben as the protagonist. This retelling features both familiar TWDG faces as well as brand new ones, and allows commenters to play a part in the story through community voted choices at the end of each chapter. This retelling is still going on at the time of me posting this, so feel free to read through all of the earlier parts so you can get caught up.
Notable Newcomer - u/EmpleadoResponsable both for their previously mentioned Ben Retelling as well as being an all around cool person that you will often see inside posts.
Game Master - u/Super-Shenron for his many fun forum games. Among the games Shenron has hosted for this year include his Tragic ranking (where commenters would rank every major character by how tragic they are), his Episode Survival ranking (where commenters would rank how hard each episode would be to survive IRL), his Menace game (a tournament style game to determine the biggest menace in the series), andmanymore. Shenron's games often encourage users to write detailed writeups so that their picks are more likely to win, so be sure to check out his games even though they've ended for a lot of cool analyses.
Insightful Commentator - None other than me, u/Mr_Bell_Man. I'll make this quick to not toot my own horn, but you can find a lot of my insightful comments within Shenron's games mentioned above as well as on everydayposts.
MVP - u/Super-Shenron for, well, just about everything: fun topic starters, insightful forum games as mentioned earlier, insightfulposts, insightfulcomments (I'd argue Shenron deserves the Insightful Commentator award just as much me, if not more), hilariousmemes, and just all around being a cool guy. I think I speak for everyone in that you are one of the MVPs of this sub, both for 2025 and throughout all of the sub's history.
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.
I really like Larry’s voice, which often brought me joy. It was his constant grumbling that made me grow fond of the character—even though the situation in Macon was quite serious.
*other than Lee. Man, I'm not going to repost this again.
We all know how much Clem and Lilly talked about Lee, but I think it's a missed opportunity that she never asked her about the others in the group.
I at least think they should have mentioned Kenny, I mean she argued with the guy for 3 months straight. I get it has been years since then, but Lilly still gets touched when Clem says they were like family at the time. If they didn't forget Kenny's hat, she could have recognized it when AJ wears it (idk how he would wear it with that afro tho).
Also one huge missed opportunity was Clem yelling something like "Ben was the one stealing the medicine all along you bitch, you killed Carley/Doug for nothing" after Lilly tried to escape on that little makeshift boat lol.
Edit: I kind of forgot Kenny killed Larry. One more reason why Lilly could have talked with Clem about what happened to the guy that killer her dad.
As you can see by the comparison, TFS Clem has been nerfed in the leaked remaster: she has less eyelashes and her lips and chin are thinner. Not to mention her iconic s4 hairstyle has been reduced to her having two ponytails again. Her TFS design was already perfect as is, no need to have such drastic changes.
I feel like Ben could have had some real development, he was just starting to become likeable and then they whacked him.
Duck should have 100% survived and been like Clementine. I get that his death was to make Lee teach Clem but it feels like such wasted potential, and they could have had Kenny snap with Katjaa beings bit instead.
Christa.. I despise her but she could have been so good in season 2, we could have had something great with her.
Nick could have been really cool in season 3. I could definitely see him and fuckboy Gabe getting on well. Maybe him and Conrad too.
I really liked the scene where Kenny loses his family; it stirred more emotion in me than Lee’s final death. Katjaa’s suicide, in particular, caught me completely off guard, as I had considered her the most sensible member of the group. But that didn’t matter—the grief of losing her son simply overwhelmed her.
The scene with Lee’s death affected me too, but it felt more predictable.
i will make a list of hear me outs, but they REALLY are hear me outs. i will not put women like carley because it’s OBVIOUS they’re bad. DO IT WITH MALE OR FEMALE CHARACTERS, it doesn’t matter.
lilly- she’s pretty specially on season 1 because she looks kinda weird on season 4. also, she can be soft and normal with lee on season 1 despite on season 4 where she’s always an asshole and the fact she killed carley in cold blood on season 1. i think she’s pretty and her determined personality… mommy.
joan (a new frontier)- the hair reminds me of narcissa malfoy from harry potter. i think she’s hot and determined. also, her smirk is…🥵
dee (400 days)- she’s hot to me. and yes, i have a thing with older woman.
jesus- i’m straight, but this man is majestic. he kills walkers like he’s doing a choreography. i mean, like, it’s art to me.
these are higher res of the leaked images for the TWDG remaster collection that i was able to get out of the exophase website, the original images are 64x64 but i was able to get the max resolution for the achievements which was 256x256, a X4 resolution increase! wanted to share cuz why not
i was able to do this by copying the image's link and changing the /s/ in the URL to /xl/ providing me with the max resolution for each image, these achievements include S1/400 days/S2/michonne/S3/S4
P.S.A: holy lord AJ is so chopped and also clem's chin is gone : ccc look at they have done to our boy (and girl)
EDIT: sorry this is the 2nd time i post this cuz i wanted to change the title (also some images are missing cuz of reddit's 20 image limit so ill post them in the comments as links)
We're back for the sixth day of All Out War! The previous top comments on the Clinton annihilation post was...
Louis (Georgia) invades Arvo (Florida) by Super-Shenron (5 Upvotes)
Kenny (Massachusetts) invades Jane (Connecticut) by myself (2 Upvotes)
Duckster the Madman (Arizona) invades Tavia (Nevada) by Empleado (2 Upvotes)
How'd it go... if you see the map, you know there's good news and bad news...
Louis' Invasion was SUCCESSFUL and dealt 10 HPs to Arvo, leaving him on 15/25 HPs
Kenny's invasion went even better as the SUCCESSFUL order dealt 25 HPs to Jane, immediately destroying her. Jane is destroyed at 57th Place, and her bombs were acquired by Kenny.
Duck... Duck is the bad news... Duck, invading from his Original State and not his California Substate, FAILED the invasion, and it cost him dearly. In a back to back max score, his failure dealt 25 HPs to himself, destroying Duck at 56th Place. Tavia, as a result has acquired not only Arizona as a Substate (10/15 HPs), but California as well (10/15 HPs still). She also got his bombs, now having the most out of any character with 9 bombs.
Sad news to end it on, especially after Duck's successful strike yesterday. Will Duck be avenged? You decide.
hey! i was thinking about antagonists that decide to do inmoral things and the story make us being against those actions. but do you have an antagonist that you think he/she wasn’t totally wrong? who and why?
Instead of Carley/Doug and Ben leaving immediately, the group would've discussed on taking the St. Johns' offer of bringing Katjaa to help Maybelle in exchange for dinner or not. This post shows the outcomes
1st-Person Fix: When playing in First Person, the player would often be forced into nonsensical walk paths. For a temporary solution, now in mod settings there's the "Short-range interactions" option which forces the player to be very close to use interactions - fixing the constant teleporting, but at the cost of having to know where interactions will be.
[New] Easy Model Swapping: Players wanted to easily swap characters, which costume select couldn't do. Now when selecting Costumes, the player can either choose to change outfits or the entire character model(s). [Note: Available models are limited and some may not fit the skeletons properly]
Director Mode Accessibility: Director Mode was a bit clunky and confusing for many testers. There's been a few new options, tabs, and safeguards to help ensure a smooth experience; Bug logs, a new XYZ manipulation tool, and a brief "tutorial" are offered. Also, new tools, options, and features are included.
What's being worked on for the full 1.0 Release:
-VR mod integration: Right now another fan has a functioning VR mod (PCVR & Standalone) as well as a test copy that supports integration into this mod pack. Working on getting it packaged into the pack.
-Language settings (Offering the mod in different languages)
-Director Mode autosaves & more
-Costume & Model swap render glitches
-Arrows for menu navigation
-Potentially adding weather dynamic options to levels in Director Mode