The Wolf Among Us

The Wolf Among Us is an episodic adventure from Telltale Games, released between 2013 and 2014, drawing on Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables and serving as its loose prequel. The player takes on the role of Bigby Wolf, the transformed Big Bad Wolf, who serves as sheriff of a hidden community of fairy-tale creatures called Fabletown, concealed in the heart of New York from the eyes of ordinary people. The story takes the form of a gritty noir detective tale — after the body of one of the fairy-tale characters is found, Bigby must untangle a web of lies, debts, and old grudges among the residents whom readers know from classic fairy tales, here reworked into a dark, adult form.

Mechanically, the game follows the style Telltale established with The Walking Dead: dialogue choices that affect relationships with other characters and the story's further development, quick reaction sequences during brutal fights, and only a minimum of traditional adventure puzzle-solving. Bigby is not a classic good-hearted hero — his wolf nature shows itself in fights through raw brutality, and the player gradually decides how much to let anger take over and how much to try to act as a fair, law-abiding sheriff. The visual style, with pronounced shadows, saturated neon lighting, and stylized artwork, underscores the dark, rain-soaked atmosphere of New York's streets and bars, complemented by a distinctive electronic-jazz score and title song.

The game was received very positively; critics especially praised the atmosphere, character writing, and the boldness with which it portrays fairy-tale characters in a raw, adult context of violence, corruption, and existential misery. Audiences and critics particularly appreciated how well the hidden references to classic fairy-tale characters such as Snow White, the wild boar, or Jack blend with the dark, modern detective story. On Xbox 360 it was released episode by episode via Xbox Live Arcade, and together with The Walking Dead it ranks among the high points of the Telltale era, still defining today how a slowly unfolding narrative experience can work as a full-fledged and emotionally powerful video game.

Why play it: For fans of dark detective stories woven through with references to classic fairy-tale characters, it offers atmosphere and writing on par with The Walking Dead and ranks among the high points of the Telltale era.