Games That Feel Like Interactive Crime Shows

The games that feel most like interactive crime shows borrow television's building blocks: a live-action cast, episodes that end on a question, an interview room, a whodunnit reveal. The difference is that you decide what to watch, whom to question or what happens next. Strong picks include:

• Her Story: an interview-room drama you assemble from police video clips.
• Telling Lies: a surveillance thriller told through recorded video calls.
• The Shapeshifting Detective: a live-action murder mystery where the killer is chosen at random.
• Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus?: a live-action family whodunnit with a poisoning.
• Late Shift: a live-action heist thriller that branches on your decisions.
• Dark Nights with Poe and Munro: six TV-like live-action episodes of supernatural mystery.
• The Invisible Hours: a murder mystery staged like immersive theatre.

Coming later, Murder Book is an interrogation game inspired by real police footage.

Key takeaways

• Crime-show games usually rely on live-action video, episodic structure or both.
• Some put you in the detective's chair, while others let you direct the story.
• Replay features, such as random culprits or multiple endings, echo the "what if" of rewatching a series.
• Timed choices appear in some of these games, which matters if you prefer to take your time.
• Murder Book is an upcoming interrogation game planned for the end of Q2 2027.

What makes a game feel like a crime show?

A crime series has a recognisable shape. Characters are introduced, the audience learns who is lying, a key interview turns the case, and each episode ends with a reveal or a hook. Games that capture this feeling tend to share at least one of three traits:

• Live-action performances, so faces and voices carry clues just as they do on screen.
• Episodes or cases, so the story arrives in instalments.
• A structure you control, such as choosing which clips to watch or which suspect to question.

This page is about that television feeling. For a broader list of games using filmed footage, see Best FMV Detective Games; for games with film-like presentation of any kind, see Cinematic Detective Games.

Crime-show games at a glance

Shows where you are the detective

Her Story

Her Story (Sam Barlow, 2015) is built around seven police interviews with a British woman about her missing husband. You search a 1990s police database for video clips and piece the story together from what she says. It feels like watching an interview-room scene out of order, and working out the episode yourself.

Best for: viewers who love the interview scenes most. See Games Like Her Story.

The Shapeshifting Detective

The Shapeshifting Detective (D'Avekki Studios, Wales Interactive, 2018) is a full-motion video murder mystery. You question suspects through a simple interface and shapeshift into other characters to unlock private conversations. Steam says the murderer is chosen at random at the start of each game, and cites more than 1,600 video responses.

Best for: fans of whodunnits who want to replay with a different outcome.

Contradiction: Spot The Liar

Contradiction: Spot The Liar (Baggy Cat, 2015) is an all-video murder mystery. As detective Jenks, you explore a village, question residents and point out contradictions in their statements. It has the rhythm of a traditional detective drama, with you making the accusations.

Best for: players who like catching a witness out.

Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus?

Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? (Wales Interactive, Good Gate Media, 2022) is a full-motion video murder mystery set during a family's annual birthday quiz. Uncle Marcus reveals he has been poisoned by someone in the family, and you have to find out who before it is too late. Steam notes it was filmed during lockdown in London and Los Angeles.

Best for: players who enjoy an eccentric family whodunnit.

Thrillers told through footage

Telling Lies

Telling Lies (Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid, Furious Bee Limited; Annapurna Interactive, 2019) hands you a stolen database of secretly recorded video conversations. You type words to find clips where they are spoken and uncover the story behind them. See Games Like Telling Lies for similar picks.

Best for: viewers who like surveillance dramas.

Late Shift

Late Shift (CtrlMovie, Wales Interactive, 2017) is a live-action crime thriller set around a London heist. The film does not pause while you choose, and Steam counts over 180 decision points and seven endings. It is not an investigation game, but it is one of the clearest examples of a crime film you direct.

Best for: players who want to shape a crime thriller rather than solve one.

Episodes and ensembles

Dark Nights with Poe and Munro

Dark Nights with Poe and Munro (D'Avekki Studios, 2020) is described on Steam as "six TV-like episodes". Local radio hosts Poe and Munro face a series of supernatural mysteries, and you guide their choices through a timed hotspot interface. Steam lists almost 5 hours of full-screen video and alternate endings for each episode. Its mysteries are supernatural rather than criminal, but its structure is the most television-like on this list.

Best for: players who want a genuinely episodic, series-style experience.

The Invisible Hours

The Invisible Hours (Tequila Works, 2017) describes itself as immersive theatre rather than a game or a film. Nikola Tesla is found murdered in his mansion, and a disgraced detective vows to find the killer among the guests. You are invisible and free to follow any character or explore for clues. It was designed for VR, and Steam notes that non-VR play was added in 2018.

Best for: viewers who always want to know what the other characters were doing off screen.

Which crime-show games involve timed choices?

If you prefer to pause and think, note that Late Shift keeps playing while you decide, and Dark Nights with Poe and Munro uses disappearing hotspots. The store descriptions for Her Story and Telling Lies centre on typing searches and watching clips, with no mention of timed choices.

Is there an upcoming game that feels like a real interrogation?

Murder Book: The Art of Interrogation is an upcoming narrative interrogation game from Gungrounds, an independent studio in Zagreb, Croatia. Crime shows often build to one pivotal interview, and Murder Book is built around that moment. It is inspired by real police footage and psychological interviews. You examine a suspect's account for unreliable details, behavioural changes and contradictions, use an in-game casebook to recognise behaviours such as avoidance and fabrication, and choose how to press. Development materials show branching case maps with multiple endings, and cases are designed for 5–10-minute sessions.

Murder Book is in development for PC (Steam) and mobile, with release currently planned for the end of Q2 2027. See How Murder Book Turns Interrogation Into Gameplay for how it plays.

Sources

1. Her Story on Steam
2. Telling Lies, Annapurna Interactive
3. The Shapeshifting Detective on Steam
4. The Shapeshifting Detective, Wales Interactive
5. Contradiction: Spot The Liar on Steam
6. Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? on Steam
7. Late Shift on Steam
8. Late Shift, Wales Interactive
9. Dark Nights with Poe and Munro on Steam
10. The Invisible Hours on Steam
11. Murder Book press sheet, Gungrounds