The Walking Dead game series, created by Telltale Games, allows the player to play as different characters surviving the zombie apocalypse. In particular, in the first game “The Walking Dead: Season One”, players primarily follow along with the story of former criminal Lee Everett, who protects the orphaned girl Clementine as they survive the post-apocalyptic world. A few mechanics that are central to the game include storing player decisions and quick time events. These mechanics all contribute to the dynamic of strategic relationship management: I participate in all the listed mechanics in order to meet the overall goal of making it through the apocalypse. My decisions contribute to the direction of the game; for instance, I can lie or tell the truth to the character in one scene, and I can choose to amputate an injured leg or not in another. Quick time events occur in combat scenarios when I have to act quickly to survive, wherein I can make decisions like who to save or prioritize. These contribute to more extensive relationship management, where I can improve or worsen the relationships between different characters to access their unique skillsets later on. The individual mechanics encourage people to focus on building certain friendships based on which approach they would like to take to reach the end of the story. Such flexibility makes me feel more emotionally invested in the story and the characters themselves; these relationship dynamics contribute to the narrative, the element of The Walking Dead that is most compelling to me. As someone who is also easily stressed by quicktime decisions and stressful scenarios in games, I can still appreciate their roles in fostering my emotional investment in the story being told.
