Game

Always Sometimes Monsters

2014

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Linux, PC, macOS, Android, iOSGenres: Adventure, RPG, Indie

22Score

Very Little Woke

Mostly focused on storytelling.

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Game metadata from RAWG.

Is Always Sometimes Monsters Woke? Quick Answer

Always Sometimes Monsters scores 22/100 on the IsItWoke scale and falls into Very Little Woke.

Messaging can show up, but it is not the main event in this game.

The game’s dialogue and moral summaries at the end are reported by some players as preachy and forced, indicating a notable presence of message-first dialogue. Character customization affecting gender, age, and sexual orientation is a central mechanic influencing narrative reactions, which raises cultural normalization framing and identity centrality scores.

See the full breakdown below.

Signal profile

What is driving this verdict

Messaging

Political messaging: Present

Narrative focus

Identity / sexuality centrality: MediumRepresentation foregrounded: Medium

These are structured scoring signals, not standalone factual claims. Read them together with the source-backed receipts and full analysis below.

Woke profile

How the score is shaped

Eight stored dimensions, each scored from 0 to 20.

Message

Characters

Story

Legacy

Politics

Lead

Tradition

Norms

Column height is the stored score out of 20

Message-first dialogue
8/20
Tokenistic characters
5/20
Ideology over story
6/20
Legacy rewriting
0/20
Modern politics injection
3/20
Protected protagonist pattern
4/20
Anti-traditional framing
2/20
Cultural normalization framing
6/20

Receipts used in this verdict

Medium confidence

These source-linked claims were gathered before scoring. Supporting evidence can raise a relevant signal; counterevidence can reduce or contextualize it. Corporate statements, consultant credits and optional identity cosmetics are context for investigation. They do not establish narrative ideology or directly raise the score.

Reveal detailed receipts · may contain spoilers

The verdict above is spoiler-light. The concrete examples below can describe scenes, plot turns, character outcomes, or late-game material.

Message-first dialoguesupporting
A Steam user review reports that the game’s end-of-game moral summary and presentation are “really preachy, haughty, and forced,” describing choices being “summed up…in a way that is supposed to reflect upon your character” as preachy. [2]
Message-first dialoguecounter
Several professional reviews describe the writing as dramatic or heavy but treat the work as a character/choice-driven narrative rather than labeling it overtly didactic; for example Gamerscout says the moral situations “land without a preachy voiceover explaining what you should feel.” [3]
Message-first dialoguecounter
PC Gamer and other outlets characterize the game’s writing as sometimes “overly dramatic” but emphasize engagement and branching choices rather than accusing the game of prioritizing explicit political or didactic messaging over story. [1]

Sources (3)

Research checked 2026-10-15

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Why it received this score

Based on: Published title analysisConfidence: MediumLast updated: 2026-10-15

Key reasons

The game’s dialogue and moral summaries at the end are reported by some players as preachy and forced, indicating a notable presence of message-first dialogue.
Character customization affecting gender, age, and sexual orientation is a central mechanic influencing narrative reactions, which raises cultural normalization framing and identity centrality scores.
Despite some preachy moments, professional reviews highlight the branching narrative and player choice as core strengths, which tempers the ideology over story dimension.

View full breakdown

The absence of combat and focus on emotional connections and relationship building shifts the gameplay toward social and identity themes rather than traditional action or adventure pacing.
There is no evidence of legacy rewriting or franchise retconning, and the protagonist faces realistic struggles like debt and creative crisis, reducing protected protagonist concerns.

Score signals

Signal	What was measured	Strength	Impact
Message-first dialogue	How much the dialogue, monologues, or character interactions feel driven by overt messaging, moral lecturing, ideological framing, or making a point instead of serving the story naturally.	8/20	+5
Ideology over story	How much the overall storytelling prioritizes ideological framing, message delivery, social commentary, or activism-coded narrative choices over pacing, conflict, immersion, and entertainment.	6/20	+4
Cultural normalization framing	How much the title repeatedly frames a specific social model, identity/sexuality framing, lifestyle, family structure, or set of values as culturally meaningful, normalizing, morally instructive, or aspirational. Increase score when the work itself is explicitly positioned around that cultural proposition - through narrative, marketing, advocacy, or identity-specific educational/sexual content. Mere presence of any demographic or an incidental relationship is not enough.	6/20	+4
Tokenistic characters	How much characters feel inserted or shaped primarily for symbolic representation, political signaling, or demographic checkbox value rather than narrative depth, organic fit, or strong characterization.	5/20	+3
Protected protagonist pattern	How much the protagonist fits the protected-protagonist pattern (agenda-driven character construction) rather than competence fantasy. Score HIGH only when: competence appears unearned or unexplained; protagonist rarely faces consequences; antagonists exist mainly to demonstrate protagonist superiority; narrative treats protagonist as symbolically superior; plot shields protagonist from vulnerability. Score LOW when: competence is grounded in training, profession, or past experience; protagonist suffers damage or setbacks; real physical danger and survival tension exist (normal action storytelling). Do not penalize competence fantasy.	4/20	+3

AI cultural analysis

A short read on tone, themes, and messaging — not a plot synopsis.

AI read

Always Sometimes Monsters leans into message-first dialogue with its moral summaries and character reflections, which some players find preachy. However, the branching narrative and player-driven choices maintain engagement without overwhelming ideological framing.

The game’s emphasis on character customization tied to gender and sexual orientation is a clear cultural normalization effort, making identity a significant narrative and gameplay element. This focus elevates identity centrality and diversity focus, as the protagonist’s social model and relationships are central to the experience.