History VideoGame / TellMeWhy

The game consists of three chapters, releasing over the course of three weeks starting from August 27, 2020. It's available on PC and UsefulNotes/XBoxOne, and was available on Xbox Game Pass from release.

* SurpriseCreepy: [[spoiler:As a young Tyler runs away from his mother, he trips and catches a glimpse of the [[SlasherSmile monstrously-grinning]] Mad Hunter.]]

** Taken UpToEleven as [[spoiler:Alyson's mental health starts declining. She sees memories that definitely didn't happen, most of which directly address her and voice everything bad she's felt about herself.]] It's the first time the memories shown are completely false.

* TransTribulations: {{Downplayed}}. Though Mary-Ann denied him the resources he needed as a child, his transition over a decade at the accepting Fireweed Residential Center went very smoothly; he is secure in his identity as a trans man, and the most bigotry he faces are some ignorant comments and microaggressions during the first chapter. [[spoiler:Evidence later surfaces that Mary-Ann had been trying to educate herself on how to support Tyler's transition despite the lack of resources she had access to; however, Tyler still had to live for a decade with the trauma of believing she was violently transphobic.]]

** Eddy Brown faces his own struggles: [[spoiler:him breaking protocol contributed to the events that led Mary-Ann to act the way she did the night she loses her life. He repents by taking care of the twins, though with an obvious bias towards Alyson, who, unbeknowst to him, is the one who actually killed Mary-Ann. If Alyson comes clean to him, he is visibly shocked, as he realizes he pretty much exiled Tyler away from his sister for all the wrong reasons]].

** Eddy Brown faces his own struggles: [[spoiler:him breaking protocol contributed in the events that led Mary-Ann to act the way she did the night she loses her life. He repents by taking care of the twins, though with an obvious bias towards Alyson, who, unbeknowst to him, is the one who actually killed Mary-Ann. If Alyson comes clean to him, he is visibly shocked, as he realizes he pretty much exiled Tyler away from his sister for all the wrong reasons]].

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: Was Mary-Ann really trying to kill Tyler that night or was it merely an unfortunate case of PoorCommunicationKills? The game has two endings, where the player can believe their memories, that Mary-Ann was trying to kill Tyler, or Tom’s version which suggests that she was trying to kill herself before the misunderstanding at the dock happened. The game doesn’t confirm which situation is the truth- both sides have good reasons to distort the truth. ]]

* NewFriendEnvy: {{Downplayed}}, but after introducing Michael and Tyler to each other and seeing them immediately hit it off (not to mention quickly develop some signs of romantic attraction to each other), there are a few hints that Alyson is worried that they already like each other better than her.

** If Alyson tells Eddy [[spoiler:that she killed Mary-Ann, he has a subtle reaction of self blame as he realizes that he failed to get Alyson the treatment she needed to process what had happened, but that he had sent an innocent child to jail for almost a decade.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Tessa reveals this to be her true feelings in a letter at the end of the game, telling the twins that she called [=CPS=] on Mary-Ann out of anger and a desire for revenge from her husband's affair and she thus blames herself for Mary-Ann's death.]]

* WomanScorned: A letter at the end of the game reveals this to be what lead to Mary-Ann's death: [[spoiler:upon learning that her brst friend was not only sleeping with her husband, but had had 2 kids with him behind her back, Tessa cut off her charity to Mary-Ann and called [=CPS=] to report child neglect. This started the chain of events that ended in Mary-Ann's death.]]

* TransTribulations: {{Downplayed}}. Though Mary-Ann denied him the resources he needed as a child, his transition over a decade at the accepting Fireweed Residential Center went very smoothly; he is secure in his identity as a trans man, and the most bigotry he faces are some ignorant comments and microaggressions during the first chapter. [[spoiler:Evidence later surfaces that Mary-Ann had been trying to educate herself on how to support Tyler's transition; however, Tyler still had to live for a decade with the trauma of believing she was violently transphobic.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: Was Mary-Ann really trying to kill Tyler that night or was it merely an unfortunate case of PoorCommunicationKills? The game has two endings, where the player can accept that Mary-Ann was trying to kill Tyler, the twins’ memory of the event, or believe Tom’s version which suggests that she was trying to kill herself before the misunderstanding at the dock happened. The game doesn’t confirm which situation is the truth.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: Was Mary-Ann really trying to kill Tyler that night or was it merely an unfortunate case of PoorCommunicationKills? The game has two endings, where the player can accept that Mary-Ann was trying to kill Tyler, the twins’ memory of the event, or believe Tom’s version which suggests that she was trying to kill herself before the misunderstanding at the dock happened. The game doesn’t confirm which situation is the truth, though given the twins’ UnreliableNarrator status, and the fact that Tom was an outsider viewing the situation, it’s likely that Tom’s version of the events was what actually happened.]]