Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Game Series
LumiScore?Our 0–100 score for how developmentally beneficial and low-risk this game is for children. Higher is better.
Growth
42/100
Growth Value
- Reading & Language
- Empathy
- Ethical Reasoning
Risk
LOW
Engagement Patterns
Minimal pressure to spend or play excessively.
Heads up
Parent Pro-Tip
Play alongside your teen or watch them play, then discuss the choices the characters make — especially moments where Rhys and Fiona's accounts of the same event differ. Ask: 'Why do you think their stories don't match? What does that tell us about how people see the same situation differently?'
Top Skills Developed
Development Areas
Representation?How diverse the game's characters are in gender and ethnicity. Higher = more authentic representation. Display only — does not affect time recommendation.
Bechdel Test?The Bechdel Test checks whether a game has at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man. A simple measure of representation.— Passes the test
Fiona, Sasha, and other named female characters speak to each other about topics beyond male characters throughout the story.
Parent Pro-Tip
This conversation builds critical media literacy, perspective-taking, and ethical reasoning skills. The game's unreliable narrator mechanic is a surprisingly rich tool for teaching kids about bias, memory, and honest communication — concepts that transfer directly to real-life social situations.
What your child develops
Tales from the Borderlands is a narrative-rich graphic adventure that places storytelling, character empathy, and moral decision-making at its core. Players must read and comprehend substantial dialogue and text, building strong literacy engagement. The dual-protagonist structure — one a con artist, the other a tech-savvy programmer — constantly asks players to weigh perspectives, consider consequences, and reason ethically through branching choices. The butterfly-effect choice system encourages critical thinking about cause and effect across all five episodes. The game's sharp writing and comedic tone make it genuinely engaging, while the characters' emotional journeys cultivate empathy and perspective-taking. Fiona's resourcefulness and Rhys's problem-solving model creative approaches to obstacles.
Regulatory Compliance
Tap a badge for details. Grey = not yet assessed.
About this game
The game is a continuation of the games Borderlands 1 and 2. But those games were fantastic shooters (Borderlands 1 - even with RPG elements), and this is a graphic adventure.