A father attempts suicide for insurance money and the player chooses whether a character intervenes to save him or lets him die.
Frequent strong profanity throughout the tense, adult crime drama.
Realistic gun violence in a hostage standoff; characters are shot and killed, an armored assault and a bus explosion occur, with blood but no lingering gore in the painterly art style.
Adults drink and smoke, and a teen house party features alcohol and drug use.
The narrative centers on family dysfunction, poverty, betrayal, a hostage ordeal, and a young girl's lasting trauma and nightmares.
The player guides characters through an armed robbery, hostage-taking, and kidnapping, and also plays victims caught in the standoff.
One spouse's extramarital affair is part of the story and a young couple can pursue a romance, kept at a suggestive, non-explicit level.
As Dusk Falls is a branching interactive drama told through a distinctive painted, motion-comic art style, where you shape the story by making timed choices rather than through action gameplay. It follows two families whose lives collide during a botched robbery and motel hostage standoff in 1998 Arizona, then traces the fallout across the years that follow. Expect realistic gun violence with characters being shot and killed, strong adult profanity, alcohol and cigarette use, and mature themes such as armed crime, infidelity, poverty, gambling debt, terminal illness, and a father's suicide attempt the player may choose to prevent or allow. A local and online co-op mode lets several people vote on decisions together.
The game presents its crime and violence as tragedy rather than spectacle, dwelling on the desperation, poverty, and family strain that drive characters to harmful choices and on the lasting damage those choices cause. Player decisions are framed as morally weighty and consequential, with outcomes ranging from escape to death or imprisonment, and the story invites reflection on empathy and responsibility rather than rewarding wrongdoing.
Balanced Play pools your kids' game time into one budget across Steam, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and more. We're taking 100 founding families — free for life.
Claim a founding spot →Free for life for the first 100. No card, no spam.