Best Games Where Choices Matter

Based on critic scores and popularity, the top games where choices matter right now are Fallout: New Vegas, Mass Effect 2, and Dishonored. The list updates every day as prices and new releases come in.

A game needs more than one sign that its story really branches - like moral decisions, choices with consequences or multiple endings - and it has to come from a story genre like RPG, adventure or visual novel. That keeps out games where a single choice at the end is all there is.

Baldur's Gate 3 reacts to almost anything you try, Torment: Tides of Numenera lets you talk your way through most problems, and in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings one decision changes the entire second act. In The Banner Saga and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, your choices can cost you heroes and allies for good.

The Walking Dead: Season Two puts you in the shoes of young Clementine making impossible decisions, The Wolf Among Us is a noir mystery where you decide what kind of sheriff to be, and in Heavy Rain and The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes characters can die and the story simply goes on without them. Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical even lets you choose what the characters sing.

Yes - The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is all about finding its many endings, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is a supernatural mystery you can finish in a few evenings, and West of Loathing is a hilarious stick-figure western full of choices. For more games with great stories, see our Story-Rich Games list.