Life is Strange: True Colors has six distinct endings, each of which can also play out in a few different ways depending on several factors. In order to get the best possible ending, protagonist Alex will need to convince the most prominent members of the Haven community that she’s a trustworthy person. To do that, you’ll have to make several specific choices in all five chapters.
Perhaps this goes without saying, but this guide contains spoilers. If you want to follow a spoiler-free guide of True Colors, you can find that with our Life is Strange: True Colors walkthrough. The walkthrough goes over all five chapters, listing the prominent decisions as they happen so you won’t get spoiled for what happens in later chapters.
Life Is Strange: True Colors Walkthrough
Securing The Vote
Alright, first things first. Regardless of which of the six endings you get, the tone of the final moments in True Colors is dependent on whether the Haven community votes in support of Alex’s wild claims, or against her. In that regard, you’ll have to convince six people to side with you to garner full support: Steph, Ryan, Duckie, Eleanor, Charlotte, and Pike.
Steph is, thankfully, very easy to convince as she will always side with Alex no matter what choices you make in the game (which is another reason why she’s the superior romance option). The other five won’t be so simple. You’ll need to make certain decisions throughout the game to secure their trust.
Securing Duckie’s Support
To secure Duckie’s support, you’ll need to interact with him twice: once in Chapter 1 and again in Chapter 4. Both instances aren’t mandatory–you’ll have to seek Duckie out and talk to him when you’re allowed to walk around Haven and complete optional content.
Chapter 1 “Side A”: When you’re covering for Gabe and working as a server, go up to Duckie and Diane to get their orders. You then need to get both of their orders right when telling them to Jed–part of that is tracking down Duckie’s usual brand of whisky. You can find the whiskey upstairs in between the cushions of Alex’s couch.
Chapter 4 “Flicker”: At the festival, you can find Duckie wallowing in grief off to the side. Read his emotions to figure out why he’s sad and then interact with the highlighted objects nearby. With what you learn, you’ll be able to ask him to dance–this will lighten his spirits.
Securing Eleanor’s Support
Securing Eleanor’s support is actually quite simple as you can easily miss the opportunities to betray her trust and make her think that Alex isn’t a trustworthy person. You’ll need to look out for choices you can make in Chapters 2, 3, and 4.
Chapter 2 “Lanterns”: After helping Eleanor work through her fear puzzle, you’ll be confronted with the choice between telling her the truth or letting her live in ignorance. As much as it hurts, tell her the truth–this establishes that she can trust Alex.
Chapter 3 “Monster Or Mortal”: If you choose to stop into the flower shop during the LARP to check in on Riley, do not tell Riley about Eleanor’s condition. Doing so will betray Eleanor’s trust in Alex. If you just don’t talk to Riley, that works too.
Chapter 4 “Flicker”: Again, if you choose to track Riley down before she leaves for college, say your goodbyes but make sure to not tell her about Eleanor. Riley needs to leave Haven for Eleanor to trust Alex. Like in Chapter 3, you can just ignore Riley and that counts towards securing Eleanor’s trust.
Securing Charlotte’s Support
For Charlotte to support you, she needs to be just as angry at Typhon as Alex is by the end of True Colors’ campaign. To that end, you must help her through her grief instead of trying to manipulate her emotions. There are some optional interactions early on that you need to hit, and a mandatory interaction in Chapter 3 that is crucial.
Chapter 1 “A Side”: You should reveal Ethan’s plans to go to the abandoned mine after dark to Gabe when you have the chance–Charlotte will appreciate that you’re looking out for Ethan. This will, however, lower Ethan’s opinion of Alex. If you want the best of both worlds, you can lie for Ethan here and do something later in Chapter 2 to make up for it.
Chapter 2 “Lanterns”: After Charlotte asks Alex to stop by the marijuana dispensary, make sure to do so. Charlotte will ask if it’s right to take Typhon’s sketchy settlement, which offers enough money to secure Ethan’s future. Tell Charlotte to take the settlement, showing that Alex cares about Ethan, just like Gabe did.
Chapter 2 “Lanterns”: If you chose to keep Ethan’s secret to maintain his trust in Alex, make sure to do this step in Chapter 2 as well. If you decided to rat Ethan out, you can skip this step but it’s also quite wholesome so regardless of what you did, we recommend doing this. Go find Ethan in the park after talking to Charlotte and read his emotions to find out why he’s so sad and why he’s stopped confiding in his mom. Using that information, you can now go back to Charlotte and tell her what’s bothering her son, reaffirming that you are someone who is trustworthy.
Chapter 3 “Monster Or Mortal”: Do not take Charlotte’s anger from her. Do not do it. Not only does taking away her anger remove the possibility of securing Charlotte’s support later on in the game, doing so will destroy your chances of getting Ryan’s support too.
Securing Pike’s Support
Pike is rather easy to get on your side. The only thing stopping him from doing what’s right is his fear of Typhon–take that fear away and he’ll back you. You get the chance to do so at the end of Chapter 4.
Chapter 4 “Flicker”: When confronted with the option of taking away Pike’s fear, do it. It will make Alex a fearful mess for the rest of the chapter but it secures Pike’s support.
Securing Ryan’s Support
Without a doubt, Ryan is the most difficult person for Alex to sway to her side. You have to do a lot in order for him to side with Alex against True Colors’ secondary antagonist. You will have to interact with him and make very specific choices in every single chapter in order for Ryan to side with Alex.
Chapter 1 “Side A”: When looking for Ethan, Ryan will try to restore power to the building that he and Alex are in and he’ll ask whether he should mess with the red or black wire. This is an optional conversation that pops up while you’re exploring, so you’ll miss it if you don’t answer in time or if you accidentally walk too far forward and trigger a cutscene. So when it pops up, stop what you’re doing to answer. You want to tell him, “Red wire.”
Chapter 2 “Lanterns”: At Gabe’s wake, support Ryan’s claim that you heard Gabe make the call to stop the detonation. Yes, it’s a lie, but it shows that you support Ryan, which will help him then support you.
Chapter 2 “Lanterns”: After telling Ryan about your powers, hug him. It will imply that you appreciate him, which will help him appreciate you.
Chapter 3 “Monster Or Mortal”: When making a plan to distract Diane, say that Ryan should distract Diane. It will imply that when the chips are down, you turn to Ryan, which means he can turn to you when he’s looking for answers.
Chapter 3 “Monster Or Mortal”: Do not have an angry outburst in front of Ryan and Steph, causing them both to leave Alex. The only way to avoid this is for Alex to not be angry, which means you cannot take Charlotte’s anger away from her.
Chapter 4 “Flicker”: Give Ryan a rose, showing that Alex is interested in him.
Chapter 4 “Flicker”: After rocking out on stage, meet Ryan on the roof of your apartment and kiss him.
Chapter 5 “Side B”: After revealing the truth about Typhon and Jed to the folks on Haven’s council, you’ll be able to talk to Ryan. Provided you’ve secured everyone else’s trust, Ryan should have just heard all the ways that Alex is worth trusting over his own father. Pick the dialogue option “You believe me, right?” so that you’re not forcing his trust onto you, but asking for it instead.
True Colors’ Six Endings
Once you’re past the meeting, regardless of whether folks believed in you or not, Alex will have two choices for her future. Those two choices can be colored based on who she romanced in True Colors, whether she’s still dating the person she chose to romance, and who is still in Haven by the end of the game. The final scenes can also be colored by who supported Alex during the vote.
Alex Stays In Haven: If Alex didn’t romance anyone, she can choose to stay in Haven on her own. She takes over the record store following Steph’s decision to leave Haven.
Alex Seeks Adventure: If Alex didn’t romance anyone, she can choose to leave Haven and pursue a solo career in music. If Eleanor, Charlotte, and Pike supported Alex during the vote, they’ll see her off. If they didn’t support her, Alex will just leave.
Alex Stays In Haven With Steph: If Alex romanced Steph, she can choose to stay in Haven with her and the two will manage the record store side-by-side.
Alex Seeks Adventure With Steph: If Alex romanced Steph, she can choose to leave Haven and pursue a music career with her girlfriend. You’ll get to see photos of the two journeying across the United States together, as well as a scene where Steph watches Alex give her first solo live performance before a crowd of people.
Alex Stays In Haven With Ryan: If Alex romanced Ryan and secured his support for the vote (or she forgave him for not supporting her after the vote), she can choose to stay in Haven with him. Ryan takes over the Black Lantern while Alex takes over the record store.
Alex Seeks Adventure With Ryan: If Alex romanced Ryan and secured his support for the vote (or she forgave him for not supporting her after the vote), she can leave Haven alongside Ryan and Steph. While Steph goes her own way, Alex and Ryan will travel the country. Alex pursues a career in music, with Ryan watching from the crowd.