The Wolf Among Us is a video game from 2013 sporting simple point-and-click gameplay that is a vessel to let the player explore and investigate at their own pace, immersing themselves in the worlds they enter. The game is produced by Telltale, which makes episodic decision-based games where your choices matter. 

Telltale has made games for a variety of titles, including Batman, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Game of Thrones and most famously The Walking Dead. They all offer compelling narratives and overarching stories whose outcome the player dictates with the choices they make at critical junctions. The Wolf Among Us is based on the comic series Fables by Bill Willingham, taking place 20 years before the beginning of the comic. It’s a world where classic fables, nursery rhymes and fairy tales live together under a dark and gritty setting, featuring famous characters like Snow White, Jack Horner and the Big Bad Wolf himself. 

In The Wolf Among Us, you play as Bigby Wolf (Adam Harrington), a rough, tired, drunk, Werewolf detective acting as the sheriff of Fabletown, a small community in New York City where all sorts of fantastical characters reside. The Fables long ago fled their homelands due to the presence of The Adversary, a mysterious totalitarian presence forcing them out of their magical homes. They flee to colonial America and establish their home of Fabletown in New York City. In order to fit in to the human populace, the Fables utilize magical items known as Glamours that mask their fantastical appearances and features, letting them mingle with ordinary humans without raising suspicion. If they’re discovered, they’re sent to a rural community of Fables known only as The Farm, banished from returning to Fabletown where new beginnings and opportunity lie. 

After his usual sheriff duties and check ins with the citizens, including saving a prostitute from a drunk Woodsman (Adam Harrington) from The Little Red Riding Hood. The next day Bigby discovers the death of a prostitute named Faith, a character from the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale Allerleirauh, the same Bigby thought he saved last night. She and her husband were in massive debt, forcing her to engage in this activity to make money. This death sparks the investigation leading Bigby to encounter all sorts of characters. Snow White (Erin Yvette), an aide of the corrupt mayor Ichabod Crane (Roger L. Jackson), offers her help as his partner in the investigation, having deep knowledge of the workings of Fabletown and being less instantly detested by the people than Bigby is. Bigby sometimes seeks the help of the Magic Mirror (Gavin Hammon), a mirror that reveals secrets to Bigby in annoyingly cryptic rhymes he needs to decipher. The clues he finds leads him to investigate people like club owner Georgie Porgie (Kevin Howarth), thugs for hire Dee and Dum Tweedle (Gavin Hammon), cutthroat Bloody Mary (Kat Cressida), and a loan shark known as The Crooked Man (Phillip Banks). 

The death of Faith puts Bigby on the scent of a serial killer making Fabletown their playground, and in searching for answers he encounters a wide array of unsavory characters lurk in Fabletown’s depths to halt Bigby’s investigation. Even the regular citizens of Fabletown seem to have secrets they’d prefer left uncovered, leading to a frustrating investigation for Bigby as even the innocents block his path to protect themselves. 

This game offers a great mystery in an enchanting setting, fit with a great cel-shaded look and moody coloring that serve the dark fantasy tone perfectly. Seeing classic Fables and Folklore collide in a twisted, suspenseful detective adventure lends to a truly unique experience. The Wolf Among Us is my personal favorite of Telltale’s long catalog of games, even surpassing the incredible first season story of The Walking Dead they made, and their Batman story. As a massive fan of Batman that it’s beaten out for me by The Wolf Among Us says a lot.

Excitingly, the sequel, long since postponed and delayed for production issues for the last decade, was finally confirmed and revealed recently, even getting a teaser trailer at this year’s Summer Games Fest. We’ll have to see how the story continues in 2027, it’s now planned and proper release window.