Her Story is an interactive story game published by Sam Barlow in 2015. The game places the player in the shoes of a detective, allowing them to sort through videos of a woman being questioned regarding the murder of her husband. The primary mechanic of the game is that the player must search for keywords mentioned in the interrogation videos in order to discover new video clips, and thus more information. The fun of the game comes from this mechanic as the player finds new pieces of information and uncovers the narrative and its mysteries, allowing them to feel as though they are a detective uncovering a story. The gameplay consists of a very prominent interaction loop in which the player has a mental model of information regarding the central mystery of the game. The player then takes action by searching for a term that they think might reveal new elements of the mystery. The rules of the game then come into play, as relevant videos will reveal themselves following this search. Watching the videos will provide feedback to the player in the form of new information and leads, allowing them to update their mental model. The player can then use this new information to think of new keywords and search terms, allowing the loop to cycle again.
