Life is Strange: True Colors wins Best Storytelling at this year's Golden Joystick Awards

Life is Strange: True Colors is the winner of the Golden Joystick Award for Best Storytelling for 2021.

Deck Nine's latest entry in the beloved series managed to woo voters thanks to its endearing cast of characters and moving story that follows Alex Chen as she heads to the small town of Haven Springs to reunite with her brother. 

There was some serious competition this year, with games such as 12 Minutes, Psychonauts 2, and Chicory: A Colorful Tale all nominated. However, once the votes had been cast, it was the narrative choice drama of Life is Strange that won out.

Here are the full list of nominees for this award.

  • 12 Minutes
  • Chicory: A Colorful Tale
  • Life is Strange: True Colors (Winner)
  • Psychonauts 2
  • Tales of Arise
  • Wildermyth

It's especially impressive when you consider that this was Deck Nine's first mainline entry in the Life is Strange series, having previously worked on prequel Before The Storm

In our glowing review, features writer Heather Wald said: "By the time I come to the end of my journey, I'm so emotionally invested and attached to Alex and the outcome of her story, which speaks volumes about the way Deck Nine effectively delivers a protagonist you can come to care for and connect with. We all want to feel like we belong, that we're not alone, that our feelings are valid, and Alex's yearning to gain a sense of belonging and face her own emotions is something that's easy to relate to."

Make sure you're keeping up to date with all the awards by watching the Golden Joystick Awards 2021 on GamesRadar+. 

Ben Tyrer
Contributor

Ben Tyrer is a freelance games journalist with over ten years experience of writing about games. After graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in multimedia journalism he's worked for Official PlayStation Magazine as a staff writer and games editor, as well as GamesRadar+ (hey, that's this website!) as a news editor. He's also contributed to Official Xbox Magazine, Edge, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, PC Games N, and more. His game of the year - no matter the year - is Rocket League.

Read more
Life is Strange
10 games like Life is Strange that are hella good
Swann, Autumn, Kat, and Nora jam out in the garage while filming themselves in Lost Records: Bloom and Rage
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage – Tape 1 review: "This Life is Strange successor is Stephen King, Blair Witch, and Yellowjackets all rolled into one – delicious"
The two characters in Split Fiction holding their hands up in surrender in a futuristic city
Split Fiction, the new game from the It Takes Two devs, launches to Overwhelmingly Positive reviews on Steam and is the highest rated game on Metacritic this year
Europa
Dev behind cozy mashup of Ghibli and Zelda says working on Diablo and Overwatch taught him "storytelling isn't just an enhancement to world-building – it's what gives it meaning"
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage
Life is Strange director says Don't Nod returned to its episodic roots in Lost Records because he's not "invested" in Netflix's binge model
1000xResist key art, showing Watcher's face merged with those of her other Sisters and the Allmother, emphasising the mix of perspectives
A Balatro crossover, GOTY nods, and near-perfect reviews propelled one of 2024's hidden gems to its highest selling day months after launch
Latest in Adventure
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A will allegedly introduce 27 new Mega Evolutions, leakers claim, and we can only hope Flygon gets its chance this time
Minecraft Vibrant Visuals
16 years after Minecraft first released it's getting a modern visual upgrade with a retro lighting trick that Mojang hasn't seen "in any other game"
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Putting cigarettes in fish mouths in Thank Goodness You're Here
Thank Goodness You're Here's developer says it was trying to design a game normally before realizing "we're s**t at video game design"
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shiny Cards
How to get Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's director appears to be a Xenoblade Chronicles fan, and I'm now feeling very validated about a tiny detail I spotted in the upcoming RPG's gameplay trailer
Latest in News
Saw X
Billy the Puppet gives Saw fans some hope on the future of the horror franchise by updating his LinkedIn profile to "employed"
"I didn’t have a single ally": Tekken 4's negative reception put series boss Katsuhiro Harada under so much stress that he left Namco for a year
Kaitlyn Dever as Abby in The Last of Us
The Last of Us showrunner praises Abby actor's "physically tremendous" performance ahead of season 2: "We just haven't f**ked up in casting"
Quacks: All-In Edition box art
Fellow witchcore weirdos, prepare your cauldrons for a classic potion-making board game refresh with Quacks: All-In Edition
Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor in Superman
Superman star to lead upcoming thriller movie from Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train director
The Witcher 4 cinematic screenshot showing a closeup of Ciri, protagonist of the new adventure
"We slept under our desks and lived in chaos": Before the Witcher 3 became an RPG phenomenon, CDPR's CEOs had a tough time making the original game