Game Modes

You're going it alone. Independent. Admirable. Possibly foolish...

The content below contains spoilers from one or more of the games. Read at your own risk!

“

A chance to turn back the clock? Walk in different shoes? Make fresh choices? Perhaps take a few risks this time. Raise a little hell!

”

Each installment in The Dark Pictures Anthology features four different modes of playability, with two singleplayer and two multiplayer options.

Play Alone

Theatrical Cut

Theatrical Cut is the main singleplayer mode that allows players to play through the game from the normal point of view and character order.

Curator's Cut

Curator's Cut is available 3-4 months after the game's release (or immediately as a pre-order bonus) and is only accessible if a playthrough has been completed. It acts as an alternate singleplayer mode, allowing the player to replay the game from the perspective of different protagonists, thus allowing for new locations, scenes and decisions.

Don't Play Alone

Shared Story

To view character/chapter breakdowns for each player, see this page.

Shared story mode allows 2 players online to play the game, with Players 1 and 2 taking Theatrical and Curator's Cuts, respectively. Some chapters are played with the players' cuts reversed, especially if it allows one or both players to continue playing the same protagonist. Most chapters are completed with both players together, but sometimes they do a different chapters at the same time, which slightly shortens the game's length.

Movie Night

Movie Night mode is essentially singleplayer (and can be in Theatrical Cut or Curator's Cut), but 2-5 players locally select the protagonists they control, and the controller or other method of play is passed between players on their respective turns. If all the protagonists a player picked are dead, that player can no longer play.

In Season Two, Movie Night has been improved, allowing players to play on different machines online or both locally and online in any combination.

Player Breakdown

At the end of each act, a summary gives each player an unique award, depending on which actions they have done most often:

• Head Hunter - Chose most "head" decisions.
• Heart Specialist - Chose most "heart" decisions.
• Ditherer - Couldn't make choices.
• Butter Fingers - Missed most QTEs.
• Sleuth - Found most secrets.
• Bookworm - Read the most.
• Long Hauler - Walked the furthest.
• Grim Reaper - Killed a character.
• Relationship Counselor - Most relationship increases.
• Persona Non Grata - Most relationship decreases.
• Life Coach - Most traits increases.

Recommended Character Spreads

This is a protagonist distribution list for Movie Night for the most balanced playtime between 2-4 players in each installment.

Man of Medan

Mode	Theatrical Cut				Curator's Cut
Party size	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4
4	Brad Conrad	Alex	Fliss	Julia	Brad Conrad	Alex	Fliss	Julia
3	Alex Conrad	Julia Brad	Fliss	—	Julia Brad	Fliss Conrad	Alex	—
2	Alex Brad Conrad	Julia Fliss	—	—	Julia Fliss Conrad	Alex Brad	—	—

Little Hope

Mode	Theatrical Cut				Curator's Cut
Party size	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4
4	John Angela	Andrew	Daniel	Taylor	John Angela	Andrew	Daniel	Taylor
3	John Daniel	Taylor Angela	Andrew	—	Andrew Angela	John Taylor	Daniel	—
2	John Daniel Taylor	Andrew Angela	—	—	Andrew Taylor Angela	John Daniel	—	—

House of Ashes

Mode	Theatrical Cut				Curator's Cut
Party size	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4
4	Eric Nick	Rachel	Jason	Salim	Eric Rachel	Nick	Jason	Salim
3	Nick Rachel	Salim Eric	Jason	—	Jason Eric	Nick Rachel	Salim	—
2	Salim Nick Eric	Jason Rachel	—	—	Rachel Nick Eric	Salim Jason	—	—

The Devil in Me

Mode	Theatrical Cut				Curator's Cut
Party size	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4
4	Erin Charlie	Jamie	Kate	Mark	Erin Charlie	Jamie	Kate	Mark
3	Charlie Kate	Mark Erin	Jamie	—	Jamie Charlie	Kate Erin	Mark	—
2	Erin Charlie Mark	Kate Jamie	—	—	Erin Charlie Mark	Kate Jamie	—	—

Trivia

• Some chapters are unaffected by whether the player is in Theatrical Cut or Curator's Cut. In Shared Story, they are played at the same time with each players' protagonist being in a different location:
  • Man of Medan: Dive and Uninvited Guests; Caskets and Danny; Echo/Finding Friends and Ritual.
    • Dive and Ritual have an extra scene at the end in Theatrical Cut, while Uninvited Guests and Echo/Finding Friends have an extra scene in Curator's Cut.
  • Little Hope: Off Track and Another Way.
  • House of Ashes: The first half of The Raid (outside of Movie Night); Pazuzu; Slayer; Bloodbath.
  • The Devil in Me: Cigarettes and Scouting; Noises and Staff Only; Workshop and Interrogation; Morellos and Waste Disposal; Chase and Pool; Maze and Cliffside; Homestead and Lighthouse.
    • Scouting has an extra scene at the end in Theatrical Cut, while Cigarettes has an extra scene in Curator's Cut.
    • The Devil in Me also has chapters that are playable exclusively in one Cut, specifically Silver Ash and Incinerator for Theatrical Cut and Party and Riddles for Curator's Cut.
• In some chapters, playable characters may be different depending on player's previous choices or characters' statuses:
  • Theatrical Cut: Abandoned Ship (MoM); Trapped (MoM); An Escape (MoM); Lost (LH); Ruined (LH); Heavy Burden (LH); The Horror (HoA); Reunion (TDiM); Lake (TDiM).
  • Curator's Cut: Glamor Girl (MoM); Matters of the Heart (MoM); Reflections (LH); Full Circle (LH); The Assault (HoA).
  • Both Cuts: Open Deck (MoM); Distress Signal (MoM); Depths (MoM); Junior (MoM); Olson (MoM); Flooded (MoM); The Ancient One (HoA); Strange Aeons (HoA); Daylight (HoA); Chase (TDiM); Maze (TDiM); Cliffside (TDiM); Homestead (TDiM).
    • So far, Distress Signal is the only chapter in the anthology that allows players to choose from surviving characters which character they will play in the next two chapters (though Conrad is not an option regardless).
• Some chapters have several segments and therefore several playable characters: The Crossing (LH); Lost (LH); Troubled History (LH); Pursued (LH); Surrounded (LH); Low Point (LH); Ruined (LH); Heavy Burden (LH); The Temple (HoA); Director's Suite (TDiM); Maze (TDiM).
• During some action scenes, the game switches between two or more characters when it isn't in Shared Story.
• In House of Ashes, each player in Shared Story plays three characters exclusively for the entire game except for Daylight. The player who started as Balathu controls Jason, Eric, and Nick, while the player who started as Kurum controls Salim, Rachel, and Nick.
• In The Devil in Me, each player in Shared Story plays as the protagonists from the opposite Cut except for Ultimatum. The player who started as Marie will play Curator's Cut protagonists, while the player who started as Jeff will play Theatrical Cut protagonists.