Telling Lies is rated M for Mature Audiences. The game was developed by Sam Barlow and Furious Bee, published by Annapurna Interactive. Telling Lies is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It released on PC in August 2019 and on console platforms in April 2020.
A few months ago I picked up a really neat collector’s set from Annapurna Interactive, a leading publisher of indie games. I finally broke it open last weekend by starting with Telling Lies. The game uses video footage of real-life people to tell a story about an undercover agent, his work, and the people impacted by his mission.
The entire game takes place on a laptop within a database server called RETINA. Discover videos by searching for keywords that appear in the dialogue. You are provided five videos to start with using the default search word “LOVE”. The videos reveal more key terms and names that unlock more of the story.
The video mechanic is interesting because it only plays one side of the conversation. There are long periods of silence, and sometimes the lines seem random. The one-sided playback makes sense as often the story becomes revealed as you build context for the dialog. Where it falls short, however, is that there is no mechanic to merge the videos once you find the corresponding footage. Once I finished the game, I had to search for a YouTube compilation that ordered and merged the videos so that I could finally see the characters talk to each other.
A deep-link mechanic makes it easy to select a word and use it for the next RETINA search. 
Who is the mysterious woman controlling the laptop? 
If you need a break from the videos then you could always spin up some good ‘ole Solitaire.
Things I love about the game:
- Investigation aspect. Using the video footage to discover new keywords and names was genuinely fun.
- Intriguing story and characters. I was hooked early on and ended up binging straight through the entire game (unintentionally).
- Nothing is missable. Once the game ends, you can pick up where you left off to find any videos you missed.
- Short and sweet. I finished the entire game in about six hours.
- The acting. I loved Angela Sarafyan‘s work in Westworld and was looking forward to seeing her in this, but I hadn’t seen the other actors in anything previously. I was totally blown away by everyone.
Overall I had a great time playing Telling Lies. The mechanics were very unique and I enjoyed the story. I’m looking forward to playing Her Story, which was created by developer and designer Sam Barlow prior to the release of Telling Lies. I hope to see more games like this in the future!
Weekend Play is a weekly Monday post sharing about what I played over the weekend. Each post is a 5-minute read that covers one game. Follow me on Twitter or Subscribe to this blog (Home page) to receive notifications of new posts!
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