List
FMV Games: 20 Best Live-Action Interactive Movie Games (2026)
The best FMV games right now are Late Shift (a live-action heist you steer), Her Story, Telling Lies and Immortality (detective games built from video clips), Erica (a touch-driven mystery) and the Wales Interactive comedies Five Dates and Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus?. Most cost $15 or less on Steam, and many are on iPhone.
FMV games had a rough reputation in the 1990s: grainy video, cheesy acting, and choices that ended in a game-over clip. The modern wave is different. Cheaper cameras and streaming-era actors made live-action games a real genre again, with thrillers, detective stories, dating comedies and horror. Below are 20 that you can still buy in 2026, sorted by what you are in the mood for.
Every price, date and platform here comes from the game's Steam page or US App Store listing, checked on November 6, 2026. Steam prices are US list prices. Many of these games go on sale often, and most of the Wales Interactive titles were 60 to 87 percent off the day we checked.
Best FMV games at a glance
| Game | Year | Kind | Steam (US list) | iPhone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Late Shift | 2017 | Heist thriller, timed choices | $14.99 | Free download |
| Her Story | 2015 | Detective, search clips | $9.99 | $2.99 |
| Telling Lies | 2019 | Detective, search clips | $19.99 | $6.99 |
| Immortality | 2022 | Mystery, search film footage | $19.99 | Netflix (publisher) |
| Erica | 2021 | Mystery, touch and swipe | $11.99 | Free download |
| The Complex | 2020 | Sci-fi thriller | $14.99 | Free download |
| Bloodshore | 2021 | Battle-royale thriller | $14.99 | Free download |
| The Bunker | 2016 | Horror, survivor in a bunker | $14.99 | Not found |
| Night Book | 2021 | Occult horror on a video call | $14.99 | Free download |
| I Saw Black Clouds | 2021 | Psychological horror | $14.99 | Free download |
| Night Trap (25th Anniversary) | 2017 (1992 original) | Watch cameras, trap intruders | $14.99 | Not found |
| Five Dates | 2020 | Dating comedy, video dates | $14.99 | Free download |
| Ten Dates | 2023 | Speed-dating comedy | $15.99 | Free download |
| Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? | 2022 | Comedy murder mystery | $14.99 | Not found |
| Mia and the Dragon Princess | 2023 | Fantasy adventure comedy | $14.99 | Free download |
| The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker | 2017 | Detective, type questions | $8.99 | Not found |
| The Shapeshifting Detective | 2018 | Noir mystery | $14.99 | $4.99 |
| Dark Nights with Poe and Munro | 2020 | Episodic comedy mystery | $12.99 | Not found |
| Contradiction: Spot The Liar | 2015 | Detective, catch lies | $12.99 | Not found |
| Not For Broadcast | 2022 | Run a live TV news show | $24.99 | Not found |
| Death Come True | 2020 | Japanese mystery thriller | $15.99 | $12.99 |
"Year" is the Steam release. "Not found" means we searched the US App Store and found no listing from the developer. "Free download" means the App Store price is $0; some of these games may sell the full story as an in-app purchase. Console versions exist for many of these games, but we did not recheck them, so look at your console's store.
Best FMV games if you want a movie you steer
Late Shift
The one most people mean when they say "interactive movie game." You play a parking-lot attendant pulled into a London heist, and timed choices pop up while the film keeps running. It feels the closest to Bandersnatch of anything here, and it was on phones as early as 2016.
The Complex and Bloodshore
Two Wales Interactive thrillers built the same way: watch, pick, live with it. The Complex is a lab lockdown story; Bloodshore puts you inside a deadly reality-TV show. Both are short enough to replay for other endings in a weekend.
Erica
Instead of picking from buttons, you touch, drag and swipe things in the scene, which makes it feel more like you are in the room. It started on PlayStation in 2019 and came to Steam and iPhone in 2021.
Best FMV detective games
These are the most praised FMV games, and they are not about choosing an ending. You dig through footage to work out what happened.
- Her Story (2015). Type words into an old police database and watch whichever interview clips match. The whole story is out of order, and you put it together yourself.
- Telling Lies (2019). Same creator, Sam Barlow, and the same search idea, applied to a stack of secretly recorded video calls.
- Immortality (2022). Barlow again: you scrub through footage from three films that were never released, all starring an actress who disappeared. On iPhone it is published by Netflix.
- The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker (2017). You are a therapist questioning patients after a murder, typing your own questions.
- Contradiction: Spot The Liar (2015). Interview villagers and catch where their stories do not match.
Best funny and romantic FMV games
- Five Dates (2020). Online dating over video calls. You choose which matches to keep talking to and what to say.
- Ten Dates (2023). The follow-up: a speed-dating night with more people and more ways to embarrass yourself.
- Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? (2022). A family video call turns into a murder mystery. Great with friends shouting suggestions.
- Mia and the Dragon Princess (2023). A live-action fantasy comedy, which is rare for the genre.
- Dark Nights with Poe and Munro (2020). Episodic, odd and funny, from the team behind Doctor Dekker.
If romance is what you are after, our romance tropes list covers the setups these games borrow, from second chances to fake dating.
Best horror FMV games
- The Bunker (2016). The last survivor of a nuclear bunker, alone with what happened there.
- Night Book (2021). Occult horror told over one late-night video call.
- I Saw Black Clouds (2021). Psychological horror after a friend's death.
- Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition (2017). The 1992 original, cleaned up: switch between hidden cameras and trap intruders before they reach the guests.
- Death Come True (2020). A Japanese live-action thriller where you wake up in a hotel room with no memory.
For horror with drawn graphics instead of filmed actors, see our list of games like Until Dawn.
Why FMV games came back
The first FMV boom, in the CD-ROM years of the 1990s, ran into hard limits: discs held little video, filming was expensive, and every extra choice meant another shoot. Our history of interactive movies covers that era, from Kinoautomat in 1967 to Bandersnatch.
Two things changed. Phones and cheap digital cameras made filming affordable for small studios, and video-call stories (Five Dates, Night Book, Uncle Marcus) let actors film at home. Netflix also showed there was an audience for choosing what happens, before it pulled its own interactive specials. Our page on what happened to Netflix's interactive shows has the full timeline.
The cost problem never fully went away. Every branch still has to be written, cast and filmed in advance, so most FMV games keep their branches short or fold them back together.
FMV games vs AI movie apps
AI movie apps start from the other end. Nothing is filmed: scenes are generated, which means a story does not need a crew to shoot every branch. The trade-off is real. You lose live actors and long scenes, and you get short AI clips instead.
FICT is one example, and we make it, so weigh this with that in mind. Every night at 8 PM (you can change the time) a new AI movie stops at a fork. You pick one of three people, and their path plays right away: about four 10-second scenes with one more choice in the middle, ending in a movie poster with your name on it. The first path every night is free. With the optional FICT Director subscription you can also write your own twist and get new AI scenes made from it.
If you love FMV games for the acting, FICT will not replace them. If what you love is "what happens if I pick this person instead," it is a quick nightly version of that on your phone. For more games where your choices steer the story, see our list of choose your own adventure games.
Every night at 8, a new AI movie stops at a fork. Pick one of three and your path plays right away. Your first path every night is free.
Sources
- Steam. Late Shift. CtrlMovie, released 2017-04-18 on Steam, $14.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- Steam. Her Story. Sam Barlow, 2015-06-24, $9.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- Steam. Telling Lies. Sam Barlow / Half Mermaid, 2019-08-23, $19.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- Steam. IMMORTALITY. Sam Barlow / Half Mermaid, 2022-08-30, $19.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- Steam. Erica. Flavourworks, 2021-05-25 on Steam, $11.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- Steam. Wales Interactive catalog: The Complex, Five Dates, Ten Dates, Bloodshore, Night Book, Mia and the Dragon Princess, Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus?, The Bunker. Release dates, developers and US list prices from each Steam page; most were discounted on 2026-11-06. Checked 2026-11-06
- Steam. D'Avekki Studios: The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, The Shapeshifting Detective, Dark Nights with Poe and Munro. 2017, 2018, 2020; $8.99, $14.99, $12.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- Steam. Night Trap - 25th Anniversary Edition. Screaming Villains, 2017-08-15, $14.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- Steam. Not For Broadcast, I Saw Black Clouds, Contradiction: Spot The Liar, Death Come True. NotGames 2022 $24.99; Ghost Dog Films 2021 $14.99; Baggy Cat 2015 $12.99; IzanagiGames 2020 $15.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- App Store. Late Shift - Your Decisions. CtrlMovie, free to download. Checked 2026-11-06
- App Store. IMMORTALITY. Published by Netflix, Inc. Checked 2026-11-06
- App Store. Her Story, Telling Lies, The Shapeshifting Detective, Death Come True. $2.99, $6.99, $4.99, $12.99. Checked 2026-11-06
- App Store. Wales Interactive on iPhone: The Complex, Five Dates, Ten Dates, Bloodshore, Night Book, Mia and the Dragon Princess, I Saw Black Clouds. All listed at $0 to download. Checked 2026-11-06
Frequently asked questions
What are FMV games?
FMV stands for full-motion video. FMV games are built from filmed footage, usually with real actors, instead of computer-drawn scenes. You make choices, search clips or click on the screen, and the game plays the next piece of video. Late Shift, Her Story and Five Dates are well-known modern examples.
What is the best FMV game?
It depends on what you want. For a movie with choices, Late Shift is the classic pick. For a detective puzzle, Her Story and Immortality by Sam Barlow are the most praised. For something light, Five Dates and Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? are short comedies you can finish in an evening.
Can you play FMV games on iPhone?
Yes. On the US App Store we found Late Shift, Her Story, Telling Lies, Erica, The Complex, Five Dates, Ten Dates, Bloodshore, Night Book, I Saw Black Clouds, The Shapeshifting Detective, Death Come True and Immortality, which is published by Netflix. Several of the free downloads may sell the full story inside the app, so check the listing.
Are FMV games the same as interactive movies?
Mostly. Interactive movies are a kind of FMV game where the main thing you do is pick what happens next. Some FMV games are closer to puzzles: in Her Story you type search words into a police database, and in Not For Broadcast you run the cameras of a live news show.
Are there FMV games made with AI?
Not in the classic sense, since FMV means filmed footage. AI movie apps work the other way around: the scenes are generated instead of filmed. FICT, for example, plays a new AI movie every night that stops at a fork, and you pick one of three people to follow. It has no live actors.
