The Wolf Among Us

This page provides an overview on the game The Wolf Among Us, structured in facts about the main characteristics of the game, followed by a more detailed analysis of the core game mechanics and the decision-making process inherent in the game.

About the Game

The Wolf Among Us is an episodic point-and-click adventure game developed by Telltale Games, with individual episodes released in chronological order between October 2013 and July 2014. The game mechanics are very similar to those of The Walking Dead, Telltale Games' previous title. The game was initially available for PC/Mac, as well as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Later it was ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS and Android. The content of the game is based on the comic Fables of the author Bill Willingham but plays before the events of the comic series.

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Story

The Fables (characters from the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers) have fled their homelands due to an unknown danger and have settled in the fictional district of Fabeltown in Manhattan, New York. There they try to lead their life undercover from humans, but cannot completely overcome the relationships inscribed in the fairy tales and increasingly rub each other out between drug use, poverty, bureaucracy, and violence. In the middle of this, the player starts the game in the role of Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of the community. The sheriff, who is trapped in his ambivalent origins as the "bad big wolf", tries, guided by the player, to uncover several linked murder cases in the interwoven web of prejudice, hostilities, old feuds and corruption while he at the same time tries to save the community from a crisis that increasingly threatens to wipe it out. During this, the player gets deeper and deeper into the structures of the community, until finally the supposed cause of all problems is found.

In addition to this plot, the game is also about confronting the player with moral choices and letting the story react dynamically to the decisions made.

Episodes

A special feature of the game is its episodic nature, typical for Telltale. Each of the five episodes is conceived as a block of actions, each of which has an arc of tension and a climax towards the end. Each episode has the same structure and is divided into several parts. At first a review of the previous episode begins (this is replaced by an introductory cut-scene in the first episode). This is followed by an introductory plot and the intro, which remains the same throughout all episodes. Most of the episode is taken up by the main part, which is followed by the climax. This consists of either a big fight or an event that is important for the narration. Finally, there is a preview of the most important events of the coming episode and credits that list all those involved in the development.

Characters

A total of 36 different characters are involved in the plot over the course of the five episodes. A detailed description of each character, including a list of their appearance during the story, can be found in the community's Fables Wiki. Because of their position as plot-bearing characters, this Wiki discusses the two characters Bigby Wolf and Snow White.

Bigby Wolf (The Big Bad Wolf)

Bigby Wolf is the protagonist and playable character of the game. In his role as sheriff of Fabletown he is the executive of the government of the fables and is responsible for protecting the fables from the mundies (ordinary humans) and the fables from themselves. In this role, he has the burden of ensuring justice, which repeatedly raises moral dilemmas as the plot unfolds. These are passed on to the player who directs Bigby's actions and decisions. His character is based on the fairy tale character "the bad wolf" from the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers. (cf.) Together with Snow, Bigby tries to solve the mystery of the two murders that take place during the first episode.

Snow White

As a deuterogonist, Snow as such is partly on the side of Bigby (and the player) and partly against his (the player's) decisions. From the very beginning she thus forms a counterbalance to the narrative temperament of Bigby and the decisions of the player. In the plot of the game she initially takes on the role of an assistant to the deputy mayor Ichabod Crane. After his death she takes over his position. This role opens up a contradiction in her relationship with Bigby, as she is on the one hand his boss and ultimately responsible for his actions, but on the other hand she is also a close friend. Her character is taken from the fairytale "Snow White" by the Grimm brothers. Initially in the role of accompanying and supporting Bigby, and later as a representative for the affairs of the Fables, she accompanies Bigby (and the player) through the events of the game and acts as a close reference and confidant who, compared to many other characters, suspects or plans nothing bad towards him.

Gameplay and Graphics

At the beginning of the game, the player can choose from one of the five episodes that make up the plot of the game. Although the game develops chronologically from episode 1 to episode 5, it is possible to start each section of the game from the beginning without any preconditions.

For the player, the game itself consists mostly of a sequence of three possible elements.

1. The selection of one out of five dialogue options (silence is always possible)
2. The execution of Quick-Time Events (QTEs)
3. Free movement in spatially limited sections (e.g. a corridor of a building or a short section of a pavement) This is where the player can interact with marked objects or persons.

Apart from these three options, certain objects of the game world (money, keys) can be collected in an inventory to be used elsewhere.

The controls of the game are designed in the style of a point and click adventure. Away from the dialogue windows, a "selection circle" (similar to a crosshair) is used to interact with the game world. The character is moved with the keyboard (WASD) or the joystick of the controller, instead of following the mouse clicks like in a traditional point and click adventure.

The graphics of the game are designed in a cel shading style, which is very similar to the drawings in a comic book. This is contradicted by the three-dimensionality of the game world, which, however, appears very flat due to the technique of Cel Shading.

Research-Relevant Topics of the Game

Ludo-Narrative Content

In order to classify the possibilities of the game world, Espen Aarseth's four-dimensional model for creating ludo-narrative content will be applied at this point. In this model Aarseth tries to establish different criteria to show the differences between several narrative games and to bring them together in a ludo-narrative design space. (cf.) He subdivides them into the dimensions World, Objects, Agents and Events. (Ibid.) The world of "The Wolf Among Us" corresponds to "single rooms" in this model. These are visited linearly following the action and are partly entirely ludic space and partly visibly surrounded by extra ludic space. In such a case the two are separated by an invisible wall. Objects in this game world are mainly of the non-interactable type with a few exceptions. For example, money can be taken and given away via an inventory system and there is the possibility of interacting with a book, the open pages of which make visible how it was previously left behind by the player. Agents exist in the game in all three types of the model. Bots without an individual identity are distributed throughout the game world and are used to enliven it (e.g. car drivers). Side characters have no elaborated background story but take part in the plot of the game in their role. Main characters are elaborated in "The Wolf Among Us", have a background story and can develop over the course of the game. This is especially true for the two characters Bigby Wolf and Snow White. Events distinguishes Aarseth narratologically into kernels and satellites. He describes kernels as "events that define that particular story" while satellites are "supplementary events that fill out the discourse". This distinction will be adopted in the following discussions and differentiated into main and secondary decisions. The events in "The Wolf Among Us" are difficult to classify according to Aarseth's model, as dynamic kernels and satellites determine the game, but in the end the player gets the feeling of a fully plotted story, as all decisions result in a predefined outcome.

Decisions and consequences

Already at the start of the game the player is informed by a text overlay that the game adapts to the decisions that are made and that the plot will vary accordingly. During the game, the player is also repeatedly informed by a text message that certain decisions made, change the in-game relationship with the character concerned. This happens when a Non-Player Character (NPC) remembers the outcome of the decision, agrees with the outcome, or rejects the decision made. At the end of each episode, the player is presented with an overview of all decisions that are important for the plot, which shows the personal decision as well as the percentage of all other players who have made the same decision. This function requires an established network connection. At the end of the game, after all five episodes have been played through, a further overview shows which promises and actions were made, kept, and carried out towards the characters of the game. In addition, information is provided about which NPCs have died during the game and which of their deaths were caused by the player.

Decision-making options

As already noted, this article divides the various decisions possible in the game into main and secondary decisions. These are classified according to the valuation of the game, which gives a hint to the player after main decisions, but not in the case of secondary decisions. Furthermore, only main decisions are presented in the final presentation of all decisions after each episode.

Main Decisions

These are "noticed" by the other non-player characters in the game. This means an improvement or deterioration in the relationship between the characters and will usually have positive or negative consequences in a later action. Alternatively, key decisions can directly bring about a significant change in the game plot, for example by making the choice to save one character and neglect another in return.

Secondary decisions

Compared to the main decisions, these do not entail far-reaching consequences and rather serve to advance the narrative level of the game and to lay the paths to the respective main decisions. They usually consist of small details of the game world, most of the dialogue options and parts of the QTEs.

These main and secondary decisions are in turn divided into four possible actions. These are MOVEMENT, QUICK TIME, DIALOGUE and BINARY DECISIONS.

Movement	Quick Time	Dialogue	Binary decisions
If at some point in the game the option is given for the player to freely explore a space, movement options open up. These include, for example, the direction in which the character moves, whether and which elements in the room are to be explored, or whether the clues displayed by the game are taken into account. When exploring possible objects in the room, the order in which they are examined is irrelevant. Merely omitting an option may result in a consequence. The elapsed time is not relevant either.	All fights within the game take place in the form of Quick Time events. The player must decide under time pressure between several planned action areas. As a consequence of repeated delayed reactions by the player, the character can be killed. However, this has no narrative consequences. In this case the game restarts at the last save point. In this type of decision, the options consist of the questions of whether to act or not and which of the two or three scenarios offered by the game should be chosen.	Due to the narrative character of the game, much of the gameplay consists of dialogue with other characters. This usually takes place in a one-to-one positioning of the characters, during which time stops for the characters not involved. Within a dialogue, the player is offered five dialogue options in response to the statement of the counterpart. Each of these consists in a short description of the resulting response of the player character but does not provide complete information about it. A fifth option is to remain silent by ignoring all four dialogue offers. The selection of the dialogue options takes place under time pressure. Before making the decisions, the player is not informed about the consequences of these.	This item covers many decisions throughout the game. On the one hand, these include secondary decisions on whether to leave an area, whether to examine an object or interact with another character. On the other hand, the player is faced with key decisions during the course of the game, which have a decisive influence on the development of the game. These include, for example, killing or not killing another character or choosing which of two locations to visit first. These decisions take place almost exclusively without time restrictions. Before making the decisions, the player is not informed about the consequences of these.

Decision scale

To be able to evaluate the effects of the individual decision types, Fullerton's Decision scale is applied in the following. In general, each decision would have to be assessed individually using this model. However, here an attempt is made to create a general impression of the four decision types and their moral implications for the narrative of the game and for the player. The decisions of the player to press certain buttons to control the character or to switch off the game are not taken into account. Instead, this analysis focuses on the narrative impact of the player's control decisions.

In her decision scale, Fullerton first distinguishes between the following decision types:

• "Inconsequential (No Impact on Outcome)
• Minor (Small Impact, Direct or Indirect)
• Necessary (Indirect or Delayed Impact)
• Important (Direct and Immediate Impact)
• Critical (Life and Death)"

She also further differentiates these types into:

• "Hollow decision: no real consequences
• Obvious decision: no real decision
• Uninformed decision: an arbitrary choice
• Informed decision: where the player has ample information
• Dramatic decision: taps into a player's emotional state
• Weighted decision: a balanced decision with consequences on both sides
• Immediate decision: has an immediate impact
• Long-term decision: whose impact will be felt down the road"

In principle, it can be said that main decisions in the game have more serious consequences than secondary decisions. The categories Necessary, Important and Critical apply to main decisions, while secondary decisions are Minor or Inconsequential.

According to Fullerton's model Movement is a mixture of Inconsequential and Minor decisions which are Obvious and Informed. These include, for example, the direction of the character's movement, whose destination and impact are immediately visible and obvious, or the examination of objects in the room, the result of which is new information for the player.

QuickTime is a mixture of Important and Critical decisions which are dramatic and immediate and sometimes have a long-term influence. This includes, for example, the selection of a weapon from various surrounding objects, which has a direct influence on the subsequent fight, or the decision to kill a character, which is a critical, dramatic decision in the game which has a long-term effect on the story.

Dialogue is special in the sense that both Inconsequential or Minor and Necessary or Important decisions have to be made. These are mostly uninformed and in part hollow or in turn dramatic, weighted, and immediate. For example, simple small talk between characters has no influence on the story, does not provoke a particular reaction and does not offer the player any new information, while a conversation that decides on the escalation or de-escalation of a tense situation means serious moral decisions for the player and in any case has a long-term influence on the story. All decisions made during a dialogue are uninformed in that the game provides only a small text example of the following dialogue for each dialogue option, which often omits important aspects of the ensuing conversation.

Binary decisions cannot be classified in Fullerton's model because of their great diversity.

Illusion of Interactivity

In a comparison between The Wolf Among Us and Telltale's previous game, The Walking Dead, an analysis of the reflection of player decisions through the game and the narrative climax of The Wolf Among Us will now be undertaken.

The Walking Dead lends itself well to this comparison, as the basic game principle is the same, but unlike The Wolf Among Us, the character Clementine acts as a constant moral compass, representing the effects of player decisions and providing constant feedback to the player. (cf.) In this way "the game fosters the sense that players have a responsibility for what happens on-screen". This process can be described with the concept of "ludic phronesis" according to Sicart. The player's decisions during the game are very different from those made outside the game. The making of these decisions is prompted by the game in order to continue the narration of it. "Ludic phronesis" is in this sense the moral understanding that the player develops in the process of the game for its specific world. This "ludic phronesis" develops through the "ludic hermeneutic circle". This represents the layer between outside world and the gameworld: "The ludic hermeneutic circle operates as a layered interpretational moral process, which starts with the becoming of the player and goes through a series of interpretative stages that conclude in the development of the ludic phronesis". In this merging of existing life experience and the player's moral values with the newly formed values within the game, Clementine represents a constant that offers the player, in her reaction to the decisions made, a possibility for self-reflection and as a result represents a guideline for right and wrong within the game. This accompaniment of the player does not exist in The Wolf Among Us in this form. The most similar role is played by the character Snow White, who, as already explained in chapter 1.3.2, is a confidante of the main character in the narration of the game. However, due to her narrative fixed succession to Mayor Ichabod Crane, her scope for development is very limited and is not sufficient for direct feedback on player decisions. As a result, although in The Wolf Among Us characters react to the player's choices by remembering, agreeing, or disagreeing with them, no moral obligation can be established towards an individual character, as it is towards Clementine. "Lee will never save the world from its fate --however, the player's choices do influence what kind of person Clementine becomes and how she acts in subsequent installments in the series. In this regard, to maintain the moral significance of the individual decisions in The Wolf Among Us, the end of the game as a collection point for the effects of all important player decisions would be all the more important.

This collection point, the final debate of all fables about the punishment of the Crooked Man as an antagonist, takes up the results of the player's main decisions over all five episodes, but mentions moral or critical decisions made by the player, such as killing another character, only among many other less important decisions. As a result of this, the value of the individual moral decisions is lost in a, according to Aarseth, predefined outcome, in which the player with her/his intentions no longer finds a place.