Yes, My GOTY Really is a Game, and It Should Be Treated as Such
Looking back at the games that were released in 2025, it’s clear just how stacked a year it was for gaming. While I loved my time with games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Hades 2, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, it’s been Dispatch that has stuck with me more than any other. While I’m not alone in my love for Dispatch, there seems to be some misconception that it doesn’t deserve to be regarded at the same level as those other titles because it is more of an interactive TV show than a game. However, I believe this line of thinking is misguided and that Dispatch is as much of a game as any of the GOTY 2025 nominees.
I was immediately hooked on Dispatch the first time I played its demo earlier this year. I’m someone who really enjoyed the Telltale Games style of episodic, choose-your-own-adventure-adjacent games like The Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands, so a successor to that formula in Dispatch piqued my interest. Dispatch was the only game I played this year that I instantly started a new playthrough of after finishing it for the first time, and it was from completing these playthroughs that I realized Dispatch had more game to offer than it gets enough credit for.
Minor spoilers for Dispatch ahead.
No, Dispatch is Not Just an Interactive TV Show
There’s no argument that Dispatch has fantastic writing and voice cast performances. That’s a major part of why it’s become so popular, far surpassing the sales that developer AdHoc had expected from the game. However, these features are not unique to video games, and the same praise could be said for an animated TV series, which has become the main sticking point for those who don’t believe Dispatch is enough of a game to be considered in the same league as Hollow Knight: Silksong or Expedition 33.
Other Entries in the Interactive Movie Genre Have Won Big at Video Game Award Shows
As a successor to the iconic interactive movie games from Telltale, it’s easy to compare Dispatch to these titles. And Dispatch is in good company when making this comparison, as some of these games have beaten out more traditional video games for major awards in the past:
- Telltale’s The Walking Dead (2012) — Game of the Year, Spike Video Game Awards
- The Wolf Among Us (2014) — Direction in a Game Cinema, NAVGTR Awards
The Walking Dead, the game that really pioneered this genre in the modern age of gaming, won the GOTY award at the Spike Video Game Awards in 2012. The show that was the precursor to The Game Awards of today awarded this style of game with its most prestigious honor, setting the precedent that interactive movies can still compete on the same level as traditional video games. The Wolf Among Us received several nominations for the D.I.C.E. Awards and NAVGTR Awards in 2014, and ultimately won the award for Direction in a Game Cinema in the latter.
Dispatch Goes Beyond the Formula of Games like The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead
Although there are clear similarities between Telltale’s award-winning titles and Dispatch, such as the episodic release schedule and choice-based gameplay that affect the overarching narrative, Dispatch is the more robust of these types of games. While the release schedule for The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us had episodes releasing months apart, Dispatch released two episodes per week in an effort to emulate this style of release in a more streamlined time frame. Additionally, Dispatch includes far more RPG mechanics than any of the Telltale games, going beyond simple quick time events and dialogue choices.
Dispatch Can Be Broken Down into Two Distinct Experiences
There are essentially two sides to every Dispatch episode: the interactive movie side and the superhero management simulation side. While the interactive movie side plays a lot like what you’d expect from a Telltale-like game, I was genuinely surprised by how deep the mechanics for the management simulator side of the game go. Not only do you have to consider which heroes are suitable for which jobs based on their raw stats, and how to help them when hitting a snag on the job, but planning a well-rounded team around Dispatch‘s synergy mechanics with skill point investments creates a layer of meta-gaming that games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us lack.
Dispatch Offers More to Players the More They Interact with the Game
Dispatch does offer the player a chance to play the game without needing to participate in quick time events, but I was glad I turned them on since you can get unique scenes for failing to interact with the game. For example, failing a quick time event during the bar fight in Dispatch Episode 5 can cause Sonar/Coupe to come to Robert’s rescue in a slightly gross bathroom brawl. This option would be missable if I had chosen to turn off quick time events when starting up a playthrough.
The management simulation side of Dispatch has also become so addictive and popular among fans that an Endless Mode for Dispatch has been heavily requested. I know I would sink hours into this mode, and that’s after multiple 8-hour playthroughs of the game as it is. The combination of different story scenarios that arise from Dispatch‘s choice-based gameplay, along with its robust management simulation meets RPG mode, makes Dispatch more than just an interactive TV show, but a well-rounded video game that has both the narrative complexity and gameplay depth to be worthy of the Game of the Year conversation.
- Released
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October 22, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, Crude Humor, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
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AdHoc Studio
- Publisher(s)
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AdHoc Studio