Her Story creator’s next game is a political thriller called Telling Lies

Sweet little lies

Sam Barlow is no slouch when it comes to telling stories through interactive fiction. His last game, Her Story, was a winding thriller that blended short, live-action film clips with keyword-based investigations. Barlow’s efforts earned praise from players and critics alike, selling more than 100,000 copies since releasing in 2015.

Barlow recently announced a “spiritual follow-up” to Her Story called Telling Lies. This time around, he’s working with Annapurna Interactive.

According to a report by Variety, Telling Lies “will follow the same interactive movie structure of Her Story,” but with a larger scope thanks to Annapurna’s involvement.

The Barlow-Annapurna marriage sounds like a match made in video game heaven. Barlow’s live-action, filmic technique falls in line with Annapurna’s roots in the movie business (the publisher is an offshoot of Annapurna Pictures, which produced Foxcatcher and Her, among others). Barlow’s quoted in Variety saying that “[Annapurna] had plans to move into the video game space in a similar way they’ve done with film – to empower creatives with a unique voice,” when they started speaking.

There’s little information floating around regarding Telling Lies, other than Barlow’s mention that it’s a “political thriller with 3-4 key characters.” The different characters will weave different perspectives throughout the game, which is sure to confuse — and hopefully, engage — players. Shooting is scheduled to start either late 2017 or early next year. 

Sam Barlow Developing Next Video Game, ‘Telling Lies,’ With Annapurna [Variety]