The Walking Dead: Season One

Review by eFreeware

Most zombie games hand you a weapon and a crowd of enemies. Fewer ask what you would do when the person beside you matters more than the threat in front. That is the space The Walking Dead: Season One works in, and it is why the game has stayed visible on Android long after its 2014 release.

The game comes from Skybound Game Studios and adapts the world of Robert Kirkman's comic series into an interactive five-part story. You follow Lee Everett, a man convicted of a crime before the outbreak, who finds a reason to keep going when he takes responsibility for an orphaned girl named Clementine. The download is free, with later episodes bought inside the app, and the game has more than ten million installs and a 4.2 average from a very large number of ratings.

A familiar world seen from the ground

The series sits in the same universe as Kirkman's comics rather than retelling them. That means the story can cross paths with events, people and places that feed into the wider narrative, including threads that foreshadow Rick Grimes' story. For readers of the comics, those moments work as recognition rather than explanation; for everyone else, they are simply part of the road Lee and Clementine travel.

What appeals to me here is the scale. Lee is not a sheriff or a soldier. He is a man with a record, given what the developer frames as a second chance, moving through a country where the dead walk and the living guard what they have. The relationship with Clementine gives that journey a spine, and it is the reason the premise carries more weight than a simple survival scenario.

The game was featured in TegraZone and has collected over 90 Game of the Year awards. Those are the developer's claims rather than mine, but they explain why a 2014 release still gets compatibility updates, the most recent in January 2025.

How an episode actually unfolds

Each episode is built around scenes you move through, talking to survivors, examining what is around you and deciding how to respond when a conversation turns. The actions, choices and decisions you make shape how your story plays out, and this carries across the whole series rather than resetting between episodes. In practice that means a decision made early can change who is standing next to you later.

Because the emphasis falls on decisions and dialogue, the moment-to-moment pace is slower than a shooter. There are tense sequences, but the pull comes from wondering what a choice will cost rather than from reflexes. That structure is what makes the format work on a phone or tablet.

Five episodes make up the season, along with a bonus episode, 400 Days. The first episode comes with the free download; the rest are unlocked through in-app purchases. The developer pitches a Season Pass as the cheaper route, saying it saves more than 25 percent and grants immediate access to Episodes 2 through 5 and 400 Days.

Why the choices keep pulling you back

The reason a story like this holds attention is consequence. When the game tells you your decisions change the story around you, it is promising that the version of events you get is partly yours. That is a different bargain from watching a series, and it is the part I would expect to stick with players: not a single dramatic set piece, but the knowledge that a different answer would have produced a different outcome.

It also gives the game a reason to be replayed. Someone who finishes the run can go back and take the other path. The developer's framing of a tailored experience points at exactly that, and it is a sensible fit for a game built on conversation and judgment rather than score.

Clementine sits at the center of that pull. Protecting her is the goal the game returns to, and it gives every decision a reference point: what keeps her safe, what she learns from watching you, and what you are willing to do in front of her. That is a stronger hook than survival alone, and it is why the series is remembered as a story first.

What it costs and what it asks of your device

The download is free and the app carries no ads. Episodes 2 through 5 are bought inside the app, either individually or through the Season Pass, which the developer says also includes 400 Days. So the realistic question is not whether the game is free but how much of the story you want, and the pass is presented as the better value if you intend to see it through.

The minimum requirements call for a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB of memory and a GPU from the Adreno 200, Mali-400, PowerVR SGX540 or Tegra 3 families. It plays well on NVIDIA SHIELD, and the January 2025 update was aimed at compatibility with certain Android devices.

The content rating is Mature 17+, which fits the material: this is a story about the undead and about people doing harsh things to stay alive. It is not a game to hand to a younger player without thinking about it.

A story worth starting on a phone

For anyone who wants a narrative they steer rather than a challenge they beat, this is an easy recommendation. The first episode costs nothing, so the sensible approach is to play through it and decide from there whether the rest of the season is worth buying. Players who prefer constant action, or who dislike paying for episodes after the initial download, will find the shape of it less appealing.

What makes it hold up is the combination of a well-known world, a relationship at the center of it and choices that persist. The developer's award claims are part of the pitch.

If you have a device that meets the recommended specs and an evening to spend in a bleak, talky, decision-heavy world, start with the free episode. The story does the rest.

What's new in version 1.23

Updated compatibility for certain Android devices.