I just solved a mystery. Never done that before.

Well, that’s not true. I closed a bunch of homicide cases in 1940s L.A. I discovered the identity of the Origami Killer and made sure he couldn’t hurt anyone again. Just last month I stopped Professor Pyg from stringing up bodies all over Gotham City.

But this time felt different. In Her Story, a terrific new indie game written and directed by Sam Barlow, there is no hint system, no sound chime to indicate I’d found something important, no text popping up or voiceover narration telling me what the next move was. Not once did I feel like my hand was being held on the way to the next piece of the puzzle.

Her Story resembles those old CD-ROM games from the 90s that combined live action video footage with gameplay (The 7th Guest and Phantasmagoria come to mind), which makes perfect sense in the context of the game world. Check out this screenshot:

The mystery you’re trying to solve is a missing persons case from 1994, and as such the UI is made to resemble a desktop computer from that time period, presumably the only functional machine from which you can access a 21-year-old database of police interviews. To use the database, you have to search for video clips using words taken from the interview transcripts.

How did I know to do that? Simple. I read the readme files on the desktop, which told me how to play the game without telling me how to “play the game.” An initial search term (“MURDER”) is provided to get the ball rolling, and without spoiling anything, I’ll briefly take you through the process of how I started playing.

The clips are of a British woman, and the date and timestamps (in addition to the different clothes) indicate this interview took place over multiple days. She doesn’t identify herself, but she mentions the name Simon. My next search is easy. From the new set of clips returned I discover that “Simon” is Simon Smith, and that he’s missing. I find out the woman being interviewed is his wife, Hannah.

The game’s non-linear storytelling makes it difficult to discern at first what information is pertinent and what isn’t, and that’s part of what makes Her Story so compelling. At first, I was hopping around from clip to clip and search term to search term, looking for Hannah to reveal the kind of information that I thought would be most useful were this a real police investigation: what Simon looks like, how long he’s been missing, where he was last seen, who his friends and family are, etc. And I was curious to learn more about Hannah as well. Why was she being interviewed so much? Can she be trusted?

You can save clips for easy access, and while I did this haphazardly at first, I found that I was forgetting too many details, which led to a lot of repeated searches. So I decided to restart the game, and began arranging the clips in order. It’s hardly a necessary method, it’s just the way my brain works. I thought that being able to see Hannah’s interviews in chronological order would put what she was telling me in the context of not just what happened to Simon, but what role Hannah played in the events that led to his disappearance (if any).

There was a lot of footage to comb over, and I spent long stretches of time playing. I found out things. About Simon. About Hannah. Each new revelation would spur me on to keep searching and searching. It was very hard to stop. Playing Her Story brought about the kind of obsessive nature that can be seen overtaking characters in films like Zodiac and JFK.

But the who, what and how are only part of the story. The why ends up being the most important question, and the “answer” doesn’t come until you choose to end the game. A traditional win state doesn’t really lend itself to the non-linearity of the story, so there isn’t one. You can finish the game before you uncover every clip. You’ll know what happened to Simon, but understanding why it happened and what it means soon becomes more important, because of your character. 

In Her Story, you take on the role of… someone. Who this person is doesn’t become clear until the end, though you can spot glimpses of this person, when flickering lights in the background occasionally reflect their face onscreen.

(Actually, I can only speak for myself with regards to that. I’m not exactly sure how the ending of the game is triggered, so maybe it’s possible to finish the game without discovering some of the more vital details of the story.)

I mentioned that Sam Barlow wrote and directed the game, which isn’t usually how people refer to those who make games, but it feels appropriate here. While I don’t doubt a lot of effort went into making the UI look authentic and ensuring the music accentuated the emotional beats without being obtrusive, the key to the game is the writing, and how closely Barlow must have worked with Viva Seifert, who plays Hannah. The police interview conceit is a clever way to get around the fact that the entire game is basically just one long exposition dump, and it rests on Seifert’s shoulders to make sure that Hannah’s story feels real and honest. It’s a quiet, subtle, and very strong performance.

Games have become so complicated over the years. Gone are the days of pressing Start and leaving it to the player to just “get” that Mario is supposed to run to the right forever. Her Story feels retro in many ways, but it’s approach to story is fresh, and it’s the rare game that makes you feel like you (or your character, however you want to read it) need to be the one to solve this puzzle. After all, this case has technically already been solved, yet the role you play, as both player and game character, has never felt more singular. Her story is your story too.

You can purchase Her Story here.