Sam Barlow told Eurogamer this month that his next project explores precognition, which is a heavy hint that Half Mermaid is winding up something new. If you played Immortality on release and want something to hold you until the studio ships again, the seven Immortality alternatives below capture parts of what made Marissa Marcel’s story land: FMV footage as gameplay, deduction from fragments, and a slow-burning mystery that trusts you to pay attention.
The picks split into two camps: pure FMV like Immortality, and non-FMV mysteries that ask the same “put the pieces together yourself” question. Both belong in the same evening.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Her Story | Original FMV interview format | No demo | $5.99 | The database search that started the genre |
| Telling Lies | Multi-suspect FMV puzzle | No demo | $19.99 | Four suspects, tangled timelines |
| The Roottrees are Dead | Genealogy-driven web detective | Free browser build | $19.99 | 1998-era research simulator |
| Return of the Obra Dinn | Deduction from frozen moments | No demo | $19.99 | Sixty deaths to solve |
| The Case of the Golden Idol | Vocabulary-driven crime scenes | No demo | $17.99 | Word bank solves the murder |
| Contradiction: Spot the Liar! | Original FMV interrogation | No demo | $6.99 | Contradiction system between suspects |
| Paradise Killer | Open-world investigation | No demo | $19.99 | Solve the case however you want |
Why players hunt for Immortality alternatives
Three recurring notes show up on r/gamedetectives and the Steam forums. First, pacing whiplash. Immortality lets you skip between clips at any time, and most narrative games feel linear by comparison. Second, deduction without hints. Barlow’s games trust you to figure things out; a lot of adventure games hold your hand. Third, the same emotional register: quiet, adult, uneasy. Not many games sit in that lane.
The picks below cover at least one of those cravings.
The alternatives
Her Story — Best for the pure FMV origin
Her Story is where Sam Barlow’s database format started, and it is still the tightest version of the idea. You search a fictional police archive for keywords, footage clips play, and you learn to spot which words unlock which fragments. Two hours long, but the reveal keeps working.
Where it falls short: Shorter than Immortality by a wide margin. Only one actor on screen. Modern players sometimes bounce off the intentionally low-fi look.
Pricing:
- Free: No demo
- Paid: $5.99 base
- vs Immortality: A fraction of the price and a fraction of the runtime
Migrating from Immortality: Immediate. Same UI vocabulary, same “search and interpret” loop.
Bottom line: Her Story is the pick if you want the tightest Barlow experience for the least money.
Telling Lies — Best for tangled multi-suspect FMV
Telling Lies puts four characters at the center instead of one, and the recordings jump between webcam calls, voicemails, and video diaries. Searching for a word pulls up any recording where someone said it, and the trick is spotting the same conversation from two different angles.
Where it falls short: Pacing is slower than Immortality. The framing device (an ex-agent reviewing footage) feels tacked on. A few plot threads land softly.
Pricing:
- Free: No demo
- Paid: $19.99 base
- vs Immortality: Same price bracket, more literal detective work
Migrating from Immortality: Very close. Same database search, more explicit story.
Bottom line: Telling Lies is the pick if you want a longer Barlow-style piece with a bigger cast.
The Roottrees are Dead — Best for research-driven investigation
The Roottrees are Dead starts with a heiress’s family tree and asks you to fill in every name using a 1998-era search engine, digitized magazines, and hand-transcribed obituaries. Sitting in a browser with a notepad and cross-referencing sources gives the same energy as tagging Marcel’s clips.
Where it falls short: Not FMV. Some players find genealogy dry. The final chapters escalate the stakes past the setup’s tone.
Pricing:
- Free: Free browser build covers the original mystery
- Paid: $19.99 for the expanded Steam edition with the True Ending
- vs Immortality: Cheaper, more research-heavy, less cinematic
Migrating from Immortality: Different medium, same investigative mindset. Bring a real notebook.
Bottom line: The Roottrees are Dead is the pick if what you loved was the sleuthing itself.
Return of the Obra Dinn — Best for deduction from frozen moments
Return of the Obra Dinn from Lucas Pope drops you on a ghost ship where every death is a still tableau you can walk through. You piece together sixty fates from dialogue snippets, poses, and clothing details. The confirmation system (three correct guesses lock in) rewards patient observation over trial and error.
Where it falls short: 1-bit visuals divide players. No FMV footage. Some deductions rely on obscure historical knowledge.
Pricing:
- Free: No demo
- Paid: $19.99
- vs Immortality: Different aesthetic, same deep observation loop
Migrating from Immortality: The rhythm of “pause on a moment and study it” is identical.
Bottom line: Return of the Obra Dinn is the pick if you want a masterpiece of deductive game design.
The Case of the Golden Idol — Best for vocabulary-driven mysteries
The Case of the Golden Idol from Color Gray Games gives you a crime scene, a bank of words, and an empty statement to fill in. Placing the right words in the right slots reconstructs what happened. Twelve linked cases build an escalating conspiracy.
Where it falls short: No voice acting. Static hand-painted scenes. The two expansions add cases but do not change the format.
Pricing:
- Free: No demo
- Paid: $17.99 base, expansions $8.99 each
- vs Immortality: Different presentation, similar demand on the player
Migrating from Immortality: The satisfaction of “I know exactly what happened here” translates directly.
Bottom line: The Case of the Golden Idol is the pick if you want deduction gameplay in bite-sized chapters.
Contradiction: Spot the Liar! — Best for original FMV interrogation
Contradiction: Spot the Liar! predates Her Story and quietly influenced everyone who came after. You wander a British village interrogating twelve suspects, and the contradiction system lets you pit two statements against each other to catch lies. The performances are broad in a way modern FMV games avoid, and that is a large part of the charm.
Where it falls short: Rough edges in the interface. Some contradictions require literal replay of every dialogue. Not on macOS.
Pricing:
- Free: No demo
- Paid: $6.99
- vs Immortality: A quarter of the price and a very different tone
Migrating from Immortality: Different rhythm, similar respect for the player.
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Contradiction is the pick if you want to see the FMV mystery genre in its scrappy purest form.
Paradise Killer — Best for open-world investigation
Paradise Killer from Kaizen Game Works lets you interrogate whoever you want in any order, gather any evidence you can find, and then run the trial with the case you have built, even if it is incomplete. The vaporwave island setting and killer soundtrack make the exploration feel worth the runtime.
Where it falls short: Some accusations land regardless of proof. The eleven-plus-hour runtime feels long for a mystery. Traversal without upgrades is slow.
Pricing:
- Free: No demo
- Paid: $19.99
- vs Immortality: Bigger, more freeform, less cinematic
Migrating from Immortality: Same freedom to jump around evidence, in an open 3D world.
Bottom line: Paradise Killer is the pick if you want an investigation you can shape as you go.
How to choose
Pick Her Story if you want the shortest, purest Sam Barlow experience. Pick Telling Lies for a longer four-way FMV puzzle. Pick The Roottrees are Dead if you loved the research more than the footage. Pick Return of the Obra Dinn for the peak of deductive game design. Pick The Case of the Golden Idol if you want chaptered mysteries you can play in twenty-minute bursts. Pick Contradiction: Spot the Liar! for the roots of the FMV interrogation genre. Pick Paradise Killer if you want to build your own case in an open world.
Skip all of these only if what pulled you into Immortality was the meta-horror layer specifically. Nothing on the market goes to the same place. Barlow’s next game is the one to wait for.
FAQ
Is there another game like Immortality with the same “search the clips” gameplay? Her Story and Telling Lies use the same database mechanic and are also by Sam Barlow. They are the closest experience on the market.
What is the best FMV game after Immortality? Telling Lies is the closest in scope. Contradiction: Spot the Liar! and older cult classics like The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker are worth the deep cut.
Are any of these games free? The Roottrees are Dead has a free browser build with the original mystery. Everything else is paid but frequently discounted.
Do any of these run on Steam Deck? Return of the Obra Dinn, The Case of the Golden Idol, Her Story, and Telling Lies all have Verified ratings. Paradise Killer runs but wants a controller.
When is Sam Barlow’s next game? Half Mermaid has not shared a date. The Eurogamer conversation this month hinted the project explores precognition; expect a proper announcement no earlier than 2027.
