The Game Census
Telling Lies cover art

Telling Lies

Sam Barlow · Annapurna Interactive · 2019-08-23

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreAmazonMicrosoft Store

AdventureIndieSimulation

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: First person

Releases: Aug 23, 2019 (Mac), Apr 28, 2020 (Nintendo Switch), Aug 23, 2019 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Apr 28, 2020 (PlayStation 4), Apr 28, 2020 (Xbox One), Aug 23, 2019 (iOS)

Four private lives. One big lie. Search through secretly recorded video conversations to discover the truth. The successor to the acclaimed Her Story.

Telling Lies is an Adventure, Indie, and Simulation game released in 2019 priced at $19.99, with an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 owners and a Mixed review sentiment (63% of 1,324 reviews).

0
playing now
63%
positive of 1.3k reviews
Mixed
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
85/100
critic score (7 outlets, IGDB)
65/100
IGDB user rating (55 ratings)
3.29★
PlayStation Store rating (1,155 ratings)
3h
to beat · rushed 1.9h · completionist 12h
bronze
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unsupported
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Unsupported
$19.99
steam price (US)

0 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 13:00 UTC (census sample)

Telling Lies is a narrative video game developed by Sam Barlow and Furious Bee and published by Annapurna Interactive in August 2019 for iOS, macOS, and Windows. Ports for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One were released in April 2020. As with Barlow's previous title, Her Story, the game uses live action full-motion video of four people as part of video calls made between them, and the player will need to use tools provided from the game to piece together events and what statements may be lies to determine the overall mystery.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 0 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 51 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~6/week).
  • · Review velocity down 9% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (183 reviews).
  • · Top 12% of 28,619 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-31

Estimated sales: 33k–80k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 1,328 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$4.99-75%
GOG$19.99
Microsoft Store$19.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $3.72 at GameBillet (2025-04-12)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 112 of 154 observed days · $16.27 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
12912920192026Week of 2019-08-01: 129 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 54 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 4 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

402026-09-14 23:00 — 2 players2026-09-16 07:00 — 0 players2026-09-17 14:00 — 4 players2026-09-18 22:00 — 3 players2026-09-20 05:00 — 2 players2026-09-21 13:00 — 0 players2026-09-22 21:00 — 3 players2026-09-24 04:00 — 2 players2026-09-25 12:00 — 1 players2026-09-26 19:00 — 3 players2026-09-28 03:00 — 1 players2026-09-29 10:00 — 1 players2026-09-30 18:00 — 0 players2026-10-02 01:00 — 2 players2026-10-03 09:00 — 2 players2026-10-04 17:00 — 3 players2026-10-06 00:00 — 1 players2026-10-07 08:00 — 2 players2026-10-08 15:00 — 2 players2026-10-09 23:00 — 1 players2026-10-11 06:00 — 0 players2026-10-12 14:00 — 1 players2026-10-13 22:00 — 1 players2026-10-14 13:00 — 0 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
2452Aug 2019Aug 2026Aug 2019 — avg 245 · peak 677Nov 2019 — avg 8 · peak 32Feb 2020 — avg 10 · peak 28May 2020 — avg 14 · peak 57Aug 2020 — avg 5 · peak 17Nov 2020 — avg 5 · peak 22Feb 2021 — avg 5 · peak 21May 2021 — avg 8 · peak 36Aug 2021 — avg 5 · peak 14Nov 2021 — avg 4 · peak 18Feb 2022 — avg 4 · peak 14May 2022 — avg 5 · peak 17Aug 2022 — avg 4 · peak 20Nov 2022 — avg 5 · peak 15Feb 2023 — avg 4 · peak 17May 2023 — avg 5 · peak 17Aug 2023 — avg 4 · peak 14Nov 2023 — avg 3 · peak 10Feb 2024 — avg 3 · peak 9May 2024 — avg 4 · peak 14Aug 2024 — avg 3 · peak 11Dec 2024 — avg 3 · peak 9Mar 2025 — avg 3 · peak 11Jun 2025 — avg 3 · peak 12Sep 2025 — avg 3 · peak 8Dec 2025 — avg 3 · peak 13Mar 2026 — avg 3 · peak 8Jul 2026 — avg 3 · peak 7Aug 2026 — avg 3 · peak 8
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$19.99$3.452019-08-232026-10-142019-08-23 — best price $19.992020-03-02 — best price $19.992020-12-16 — best price $9.992021-09-27 — best price $7.992022-01-03 — best price $19.992022-02-25 — best price $19.992022-04-19 — best price $19.992022-06-09 — best price $4.642022-08-23 — best price $4.452022-10-06 — best price $4.462022-12-04 — best price $15.892023-02-10 — best price $5.102023-04-18 — best price $5.802023-06-29 — best price $4.992023-08-28 — best price $4.992023-11-04 — best price $19.992024-01-18 — best price $4.992024-02-25 — best price $6.002024-04-13 — best price $15.322024-05-25 — best price $15.892024-07-25 — best price $4.142024-08-26 — best price $4.992025-01-03 — best price $15.892025-04-13 — best price $4.402025-07-25 — best price $15.892025-10-10 — best price $4.902026-01-06 — best price $4.402026-03-19 — best price $3.552026-05-08 — best price $17.402026-06-30 — best price $4.402026-08-18 — best price $4.992026-09-09 — best price $4.992026-09-29 — best price $4.992026-10-14 — best price $19.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

274642026-05-31 — 138 pageviews2026-06-04 — 91 pageviews2026-06-08 — 96 pageviews2026-06-12 — 88 pageviews2026-06-16 — 97 pageviews2026-06-20 — 79 pageviews2026-06-24 — 64 pageviews2026-06-28 — 92 pageviews2026-07-02 — 79 pageviews2026-07-06 — 88 pageviews2026-07-10 — 85 pageviews2026-07-14 — 74 pageviews2026-07-18 — 126 pageviews2026-07-22 — 153 pageviews2026-07-26 — 170 pageviews2026-07-30 — 144 pageviews2026-08-03 — 156 pageviews2026-08-07 — 117 pageviews2026-08-11 — 152 pageviews2026-08-15 — 136 pageviews2026-08-19 — 124 pageviews2026-08-23 — 122 pageviews2026-08-27 — 100 pageviews2026-08-31 — 110 pageviews2026-09-04 — 111 pageviews2026-09-08 — 112 pageviews2026-09-12 — 102 pageviews2026-09-16 — 89 pageviews2026-09-20 — 92 pageviews2026-09-24 — 146 pageviews2026-09-28 — 123 pageviews2026-10-02 — 131 pageviews2026-10-06 — 131 pageviews2026-10-10 — 180 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

11
achievements tracked
51.7%
earned "Hey"
33.3%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsCaptions availableSteam CloudFamily Sharing1 DLC

11 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Spanish - Latin America, Russian, Japanese, Korean

Post-launch support: 1 DLC released, first 2019-08-26 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Xbox Series, Xbox One, Windows (Xbox)11,91548%15
PS4 (PlayStation)6,43875%16
PS4 (PlayStation)5,63071%16
Steam (Steam)1,47126%11
Switch (Nintendo)320%0

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Player tags

FMVCrimeIndiePuzzleMysteryThrillerAdventureDetectiveRealisticSimulation

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Supreme Ruler UltimateMasochisiaRusty Lake HotelUnforeseen IncidentsAnother Brick in The MallMashinkyWeapon Shop FantasyDude Simulator

Similarity via IGDB.

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