Detroit: Become Human: Complete Guide

A spoiler-light companion for Quantic Dream's branching android drama: how the choice systems actually work, how to keep Connor, Kara and Markus alive, how to chase the endings you want, and how to clean up collectibles and the flowchart afterwards.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final PC build (the last content update on Steam was the Simplified Chinese patch in August 2020; the game is complete and no longer changing). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• There is no "wrong" playthrough. The story continues if a main character dies. Play your first run blind and live with your choices — that is the intended experience.
• Pick your difficulty honestly. Casual gives more margin in action scenes and makes deaths much rarer; Experienced is the standard experience where failed QTEs can kill main characters permanently.
• Always investigate before you commit. Most "big" chapters reward searching every clue: reconstructions, evidence and conversations open extra dialogue options and better outcomes.
• Check the flowchart after each chapter. It shows which branches you took, which you missed (as locked nodes), and your completion percentage.
• Don't replay chapters mid-run until you're done. Replaying a chapter can overwrite downstream results ("save progress" prompts). Finish the story once, then use chapter select.
• Relationships are tracked. Connor/Hank, Kara/Alice and Markus/Jericho (plus public opinion) are persistent meters that gate later scenes. Watch the on-screen notifications.
• Magazines are collectibles. They're scattered through most chapters; reading them adds world-building about 2038 Detroit (news, politics, android tech) that makes the story land harder.
• Talk to Chloe in the main menu. The android hostess reacts to your progress and has a memorable moment at the end of the game.

How the Game Works

The three protagonists

Character | Role | Tone of their chapters | Key relationship

Connor | RK800 police-assistant prototype investigating deviant androids | Detective work, crime-scene reconstruction, interrogations | Lt. Hank Anderson

Kara | AX400 housekeeper who flees an abusive home | Stealth, survival, escape | Alice (the girl she protects)

Markus | RK200 caretaker who becomes a revolutionary leader | Leadership, protests, big set pieces | Carl Manfred, then North, Simon and Josh at Jericho

The chapters alternate between the three, and their stories eventually intersect.

Core systems

• Choices and timers. Dialogue options appear around the screen; some have a countdown. Not choosing is also a choice.
• Mind Palace / preconstruction. Connor and Markus can pause time to plan: Connor reconstructs crime scenes, Markus "preconstructs" routes to test paths before committing.
• Action sequences (QTEs). Button prompts during fights and chases. Missing some is usually survivable; missing a chain in a lethal moment is not (on Experienced).
• Probability of success. In negotiation scenes (for example the opening "The Hostage") a percentage tells you how likely your approach is to work. Gather clues first to raise it.
• Software instability (Connor). Connor's choices can push him toward or away from deviancy. This is the single most important hidden-ish variable in his arc.
• Public opinion (Markus). Markus's chapters are judged by the media and public. Peaceful acts raise sympathy; violence lowers it. This influences the later chapters heavily.
• Relationship meters. Hank (Connor), Alice (Kara) and Jericho members (Markus) have attitude states that change what lines they say and whether they follow you.

Controls (PC defaults)

The game supports keyboard + mouse and gamepad; prompts adapt automatically.

Action | Keyboard/Mouse | Gamepad (Xbox)

Move | WASD | Left stick

Camera | Mouse | Right stick

Interact / gesture prompt | Mouse drag in the shown direction, or prompted key | Right stick in the shown direction

Dialogue choices | Prompted keys | Face buttons

Exact keys for mind palace/scan and objectives are shown in the pause menu's controls screen and can be rebound on PC.

If a mouse-gesture QTE keeps failing, switch to a controller — the gesture prompts were designed for sticks and are more forgiving there.

Chapter Walkthrough Outline (spoiler-light)

The game has 32 chapters. Below are the big decision beats per character without spelling out every consequence.

Connor

• The Hostage (opening): Explore the apartment before going onto the balcony. Finding the clues (the family's tablet, the gun, the dead officer, the hostage's father's body) raises your success odds. You can save Emma even with a lower percentage, but prepare anyway.
• Partners: Meeting Hank. Buying him a drink at the bar and finding clues at the crime scene builds early relationship.
• The Interrogation: Choose how to handle the deviant. Pushing too hard can end badly; the right mix of empathy and pressure gets a confession.
• Waiting for Hank / Russian Roulette: Two chapters that shape Hank's attitude and whether he trusts you. Be honest with him and pay attention to his personal life clues in his house.
• Meet Kamski: Kamski's "test" is one of the most consequential choices for Connor's deviancy path. Think about who you want Connor to be before you answer.
• Public Enemy / Last Chance, Connor / Crossroads / Battle for Detroit: Connor's late-game choices depend on his instability and relationship with Hank. Whether he becomes a deviant is locked in here.

Kara

• Stormy Night: The escape from Todd's house. Whether Kara breaks her programming and how she handles the confrontation defines the tone of her arc.
• Fugitives / On the Run / The Nest: Survival chapters. Finding shelter, food and money for Alice matters. Stealth and sneaking are usually safer than confrontation.
• Zlatko: A dangerous detour. Watch for escape routes and be willing to cut losses.
• Midnight Train / Capture / Crossroads: Kara's endgame route to Canada. Her earlier choices (who helped her, what she learned, her bond with Alice) change how much help she gets.

Markus

• The Painter: Establishes Carl and a key moment of self-determination.
• From the Dead / Jericho: Markus's rebirth and arrival at Jericho, where he's chosen as leader.
• Spare Parts / The Stratford Tower / Freedom March / Capitol Park: The core peaceful-versus-violent choices. Each action is reported by the news and shifts public opinion.
• Night of the Soul / Crossroads / Battle for Detroit: The finale. Your approach (demonstration or revolution) and relationships at Jericho decide who stands with you and how the city reacts.

Endings Explained

There are dozens of ending variations. They're driven by four big dials:

Dial | What moves it

Survival of each protagonist | QTE performance, stealth choices, sacrifice decisions

Connor's deviancy | Software instability choices, Kamski's test, Hank relationship

Markus's approach | Peaceful vs violent actions; public opinion

Kara & Alice's escape | Relationship with Alice, who you trusted and helped, late chapter decisions

General rule: a peaceful, high-public-opinion Markus plus a deviant Connor plus a surviving Kara/Alice is the path that most players consider the "good" outcome. Violent revolutions and machine-Connor routes produce darker but equally valid endings.

Collectibles and Missables

• Magazines: Found in many chapters on tables, benches and shelves. Look for glowing interaction prompts. Note which chapters you've combed; a collectibles checklist from a wiki makes cleanup much faster.
• Clues: Connor's investigation clues are tracked per chapter; missing them doesn't always block progress but locks alternate branches.
• Hidden Chloe scene: Speak to Chloe in the main menu periodically; her dialogue changes with your progress and the ending of your first run.
• Extras: Points earned by playing unlock concept art, music, and behind-the-scenes content in the Bonus section.

Achievement / 100% Tips

• Beat the game once with no guides. Many players only care about their own story — this is the most rewarding way to play.
• Replay using chapter select with checkpoints. Chapters have checkpoints; you can jump back into a specific branch rather than restarting a full chapter.
• Be careful with overwrite prompts when experimenting. Replaying a chapter can change the downstream story state; read the prompts when you replay and keep your first-run outcome if you care about it.
• Aim for flowchart completion one chapter at a time. Some nodes need very specific combinations (e.g., particular relationship states), so plan routes with a flowchart reference.
• Deaths count. Several endings and achievements require characters to die in specific ways; don't be afraid of failing a QTE on purpose during cleanup runs.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Rushing Connor's investigations. Missing clues makes interrogations and negotiations far riskier.
• Assuming a failed QTE is the end. Most scenes branch rather than end — only specific chains are lethal.
• Replaying chapters too early. You can accidentally overwrite your first-run outcome.
• Ignoring Hank. His relationship is the biggest single lever on Connor's fate.
• Making Markus flip-flop. Alternating violence and peace dilutes public opinion and your Jericho support; commit to a direction.
• Skipping the News. TV screens and news kiosks show how public opinion is shifting — useful feedback for Markus.

Advanced Tips

• Scan everything as Connor. Evidence reconstruction often reveals the "hidden" option that opens a better outcome.
• Timer choices can be deliberately ignored. In some tense conversations, silence produces a unique response.
• Kara's stealth can bypass trouble. In chapters like "On the Run", hiding and taking detours is safer than confrontation.
• Use Markus's preconstruction freely. It costs nothing to preview routes, and some preconstructed paths lead to alternate objectives.
• Pay attention to what Alice sees and hears. Many Kara outcomes hinge on the trust shown in small interactions.
• The final chapters are extremely branchy. Save your deliberate experimentation for them — you'll see the biggest differences there.

Suggested Replay Plan

• Run 1 — blind. Your choices, your ending. Don't reload after bad outcomes.
• Run 2 — the opposite. Flip each character's core stance: machine Connor instead of deviant (or vice versa), violent Markus instead of peaceful, a different route for Kara. This alone reveals a huge share of the flowchart.
• Cleanup — chapter select. Use the flowchart's locked nodes as a to-do list. Target the chapters with the most unexplored branches first (the late-game chapters around Crossroads and Battle for Detroit are the densest).
• Deaths and oddities last. Deliberately failing, letting characters die and chasing rare interactions is easiest once you know each chapter's layout.

PC Performance Notes

• The PC port supports 4K and 60 fps, with keyboard/mouse and controller support.
• If you experience stutter in the first scenes, let the shader cache finish (it can stutter on first load) and update GPU drivers.
• The PC version first launched on the Epic Games Store (December 2019) and arrived on Steam in June 2020; the Steam build also received Simplified Chinese (August 2020) and trading cards (October 2021).

FAQ

How long is Detroit: Become Human? A single playthrough is roughly 10–12 hours. Seeing most branches and the full flowchart takes considerably longer.

Can all three main characters die? Yes. Connor, Kara and Markus can each die in specific chapters, and the story continues without them.

Should I play on Casual or Experienced? If you're new to QTE-heavy games or want the story without tension, Casual. If you want real stakes, Experienced.

How do I make Connor become a deviant? Make empathic choices, trust Hank, and let his software instability rise; the key decisions happen in the late Connor chapters.

What's the best ending? Most players consider a peaceful revolution with all characters surviving to be the "best", but there is no single canonical ending.

Does the Steam version have trading cards? Yes. Steam trading cards, badges, backgrounds and emoticons were added in October 2021 and were granted retroactively.

Is Detroit getting a sequel or new content? No new content has been announced; the latest official Steam posts are community updates (e.g. the 2024 Steam Awards nomination call).

Sources

• Detroit: Become Human on Steam
• Steam news for Detroit: Become Human
• Detroit: Become Human — Wikipedia
• Quantic Dream official site