---
key: mechanic/narrative-investigation--t197
type: mechanic
id: narrative-investigation--t197
lang: en
title: Unreliable narrators and testing interpretations
summary: >-
  Unreliable reports require comparison with independent signs and revision of
  trust in their source.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/narrative-investigation--t197/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/narrative-investigation--t197.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/narrative-investigation--t197.md
aliases:
  - Testing an unreliable account
tags:
  - 'Narrative, dialogue and investigation'
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-24607f3488b057c0
  - source-86b980b788f54522
sources:
  - id: source-24607f3488b057c0
    title: 'inkle: ink'
    url: 'https://github.com/inkle/ink'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-86b980b788f54522
    title: Her Story
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/368370/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: narrative-investigation
    id: t197
    title: 'Narrative, dialogue and investigation'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/narrative-investigation/#t197'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Testing an unreliable account
    description: >-
      Unreliable reports require comparison with independent signs and revision
      of trust in their source.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-her-story-00.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 900
      crop:
        x: 120
        'y': 0
        width: 1200
        height: 900
      game: Her Story
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/368370/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/368370/ss_47f0e58df778d9f10b3df40ddce8bba8e592b1fb.1920x1080.jpg?t=1684962832
      credit: Sam Barlow
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: 'A search query, recordings and a user tag'
      alt: 'A search query, recordings and a user tag'
      markers:
        - x: 58
          'y': 40
          label: A query retrieves related recordings
        - x: 44
          'y': 59
          label: The player adds a personal tag
    tips:
      - Let players test a story against independent observable details.
    examples:
      - title: Her Story
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/368370/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on
  2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design
  examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests.
  Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not
  every proposed variant.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/narrative-investigation
---
# Unreliable narrators and testing interpretations

id: narrative-investigation--t197
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/narrative-investigation--t197
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/narrative-investigation--t197/

Unreliable reports require comparison with independent signs and revision of trust in their source.

## At a glance

![A search query, recordings and a user tag](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-her-story-00.webp)

[Her Story](https://store.steampowered.com/app/368370/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. A query retrieves related recordings
2. The player adds a personal tag

- Let players test a story against independent observable details.

- [Her Story](https://store.steampowered.com/app/368370/)

## How it works

Unreliable reports require comparison with independent signs and revision of trust in their source.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t197-variants"></a>

- Limited memory leaves recognizable gaps. <a id="t197-v1"></a>
- Self-interest distorts which facts are reported. <a id="t197-v2"></a>
- Another viewpoint reveals an omitted event. <a id="t197-v3"></a>
- Corroboration raises trust in a particular claim. <a id="t197-v4"></a>

## Design example

A diary describes a victory while damage to the gates suggests its author retreated.

Prototype check: Test for observable reasons to doubt before the ending instead of revealing deception only in retrospect.

## Context and limits

Narrative challenges give players grounds for interpretation, observable consequences of choice and ways to revise a hypothesis. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.

- [inkle: ink](https://github.com/inkle/ink) (id: source-24607f3488b057c0)
- [Her Story](https://store.steampowered.com/app/368370/) (id: source-86b980b788f54522)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors