Case File 321 · Detective & Mystery Games
Best Games About Police Interviews and Interrogations
The best games about police interviews and interrogations put you on one side of the table, asking questions, reading responses and deciding what to believe. Strong picks include:
The best games about police interviews and interrogations put you on one side of the table, asking questions, reading responses and deciding what to believe. Strong picks include:
- Interrogation: You will be deceived: question suspects through dialogue puzzles, choosing your approach and facing the consequences.
- L.A. Noire: question witnesses and suspects as a 1940s LAPD detective, judging their expressions.
- Contradiction: Spot The Liar: catch contradictions in what people tell you during an FMV murder mystery.
- The Shapeshifting Detective: question suspects and shapeshift into other characters to hear what they say in private.
- Her Story: search a database of police interview clips to piece together what really happened.
- Disco Elysium – The Final Cut: interrogate suspects and witnesses through a dialogue-driven RPG.
Key takeaways
- The best interview games make questioning the core mechanic, not a pause between action scenes.
- Some games give you control over how you press a suspect; others focus on what you notice in their answers.
- Formats range from full-motion video to stylised 2D, 3D worlds and isometric RPGs.
- Most picks have no combat. L.A. Noire is the main exception.
- Murder Book, an upcoming game, is built entirely around reading suspect behaviour during short interrogation sessions.
What counts as a police interview or interrogation game?
For this list, an interview or interrogation game is one where talking to people, whether suspects, witnesses or persons of interest, is a core mechanic that determines how a case unfolds. That means choosing questions, catching lies, reading behaviour or confronting contradictions. Games where interviews are only flavour text or brief cutscenes were left out.
Every game below was checked against its Steam store listing or official website for developer and availability.
Best games about police interviews and interrogations at a glance
| Game | Developer | Interview mechanic | Format | Combat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interrogation: You will be deceived | Critique Gaming | Choose interrogation tactics in dialogue puzzles | Stylised 2D | No |
| L.A. Noire | Team Bondi | Judge expressions, choose to accuse or accept | 3D open world | Yes |
| Contradiction: Spot The Liar | Baggy Cat | Point out contradictions between statements | Full-motion video | No |
| The Shapeshifting Detective | D'Avekki Studios | Question suspects, shapeshift to hear private conversations | Full-motion video | No |
| Her Story | Sam Barlow | Search interview clips by keyword | Full-motion video | No |
| Disco Elysium – The Final Cut | ZA/UM | Skill checks and dialogue choices shape every conversation | Isometric RPG | No traditional combat |
Interrogation: You will be deceived
Interrogation: You will be deceived (Critique Gaming, 2019) is one of the few games built almost entirely around the interview room. You play a detective tracking a terrorist group, and every case advances through dialogue puzzles where you choose how to handle each suspect. Steam's description notes that available methods include empathy, manipulation, threats and even torture. The game also tracks your team's morale and your public reputation, tying interrogation choices to wider consequences.
Best for: players who want interrogation as a strategic and moral challenge.
L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire (Team Bondi, Rockstar Games, 2011 on PC) uses facial-capture technology to make interviews feel personal. As LAPD detective Cole Phelps in the 1940s, you question witnesses and suspects after examining crime scenes. You judge whether their expression suggests truth, doubt or a lie, then press accordingly. The game also includes action, with chases, fistfights and gunfights, so interrogation is one part of a larger design.
Best for: players who want interview mechanics inside a cinematic crime story. For more games with no combat, see detective games without combat.
Contradiction: Spot The Liar
Contradiction: Spot The Liar (Baggy Cat, 2015) is an all-video murder mystery where you play detective Jenks, interviewing the residents of a village. The core mechanic is catching contradictions: when two statements do not match, you select them and present the conflict. The game rewards careful listening and memory, and the live-action format makes interviews feel grounded.
Best for: fans of full-motion video who enjoy catching people out. See also best FMV detective games.
The Shapeshifting Detective
The Shapeshifting Detective (D'Avekki Studios, Wales Interactive, 2018) adds a twist to FMV interviewing. You question suspects through a simple interface, but you can also shapeshift into other characters to unlock private conversations. Steam notes that the murderer is chosen at random at the start of each game, giving it replay value. The interviews feel different each time because different characters are hiding different things.
Best for: players who want a replayable FMV interview game with a unique mechanic.
Her Story
Her Story (Sam Barlow, 2015) puts you on the other side of the glass. Instead of conducting interviews, you search a 1990s police database of video clips from seven interviews with a woman about her missing husband. You type search terms and piece the truth together from fragments. It captures what it feels like to study an interview for the moment a story slips, even though you never ask a question yourself.
Best for: players who want to analyse interviews at their own pace. For related picks, see games where you compare statements and evidence.
Disco Elysium – The Final Cut
Disco Elysium (ZA/UM, 2019; The Final Cut, 2021) is a detective RPG where almost everything happens through conversation. You question suspects, witnesses and bystanders, and 24 internal skills shape what you notice and how you respond. Skill checks determine whether a confrontation succeeds or fails. There is no combat in the traditional sense.
Best for: players who want deep, dialogue-driven investigation.
What about Telling Lies and Unheard?
Two other games deserve mention for players who enjoy studying interviews from a distance.
Telling Lies (Sam Barlow, Annapurna Interactive, 2019) follows a similar format to Her Story. You search a stolen database of secretly recorded video conversations, watching one side at a time and piecing together what connects the speakers. It is larger and more complex than Her Story, with multiple storylines.
Unheard (NEXT Studios, 2019) takes a different approach entirely. You listen to audio recordings of a crime scene, identifying who each voice belongs to and what happened. There are no visuals of the speakers, only their words, making it an exercise in careful listening.
How do you choose the right interview game?
- If you want to control the interrogation: start with Interrogation: You will be deceived.
- If you prefer watching and analysing: try Her Story or Telling Lies.
- If you enjoy live-action video: look at Contradiction or The Shapeshifting Detective.
- If you want investigation through deep dialogue: try Disco Elysium.
- If you want a short session: check games where your interrogation choices have consequences for more focused picks.
Is there an upcoming game focused on police interrogation?
Murder Book: The Art of Interrogation is an upcoming narrative interrogation game from Gungrounds, an independent studio founded in 2016 in Zagreb, Croatia. It is inspired by real police footage and psychological interviews. Where many games on this list mix interviews with exploration, puzzles or action, Murder Book puts the interrogation itself at the centre of every case.
Development screenshots show a technique menu offering approaches such as Build Trust, Futility, Bluffing, Baiting, Demonstration and Confrontation. Build Trust is described as "fostering an environment where the suspect feels comfortable and secure enough to communicate openly". You read suspect behaviour using an in-game casebook, connect statements that contradict each other and choose how to press. Cases are designed for focused 5–10-minute sessions.
Murder Book is in development for PC (Steam) and mobile, with release currently planned for the end of Q2 2027. Learn more about how it works in how Murder Book turns interrogation into gameplay.