Virginia (video game)
A dialogue-free FBI mystery set in 1992 Virginia.
Virginia is a first-person mystery adventure game released in 2016. It was created by the British independent studio Variable State and published by 505 Games. The player character is Anne Tarver, a newly graduated FBI special agent working her first case: the disappearance of a boy in rural Virginia.
The game was directed by Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny, with music by Lyndon Holland. The three also co-wrote the script. Virginia was first announced in July 2014, originally planned for a 2015 release. A prototype was shown at the 2014 Future of StoryTelling summit and at EGX Leftfield Collection that year. On August 30, 2016, 505 Games announced it would publish the game, and a demo was released on Steam. The full game launched on September 22, 2016, for macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.
**Gameplay**
Virginia is a first-person mystery thriller set in a fictionalized version of the state in 1992. Players control Anne Tarver, who is partnered with the non-playable agent Maria Halperin. Gameplay involves traveling between locations, interacting with characters and objects, often alongside Halperin. Scenes transition using real-time cinematic editing—cuts and dissolves move the story forward and juxtapose moments for dramatic effect.
**Premise**
In the last days of summer 1992, rookie FBI agent Anne Tarver is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a boy named Lucas Fairfax in the fictional town of Kingdom, Virginia. She is paired with Maria Halperin, an experienced but discredited agent. Anne’s supervisor secretly instructs her to monitor Maria for signs of untrustworthiness.
Anne discovers Lucas had an interest in photography and finds a nearby cave where he may have spent time. After a minor cave-in, the two return the next day, where a young teen accosts Maria and steals a locket containing a photo of her mother, Judith Ortega, a former FBI agent. They arrest the teen, finding LSD among his possessions; Anne keeps a small sample. Further investigation reveals Lucas’s photos point to an abandoned observatory. When they try to enter, Air Force personnel block access, joined by Lucas’s father and the mayor. At FBI headquarters, Anne learns Judith was discredited for unusual investigation methods, similar to Maria.
While getting gas, Maria accidentally knocks over Anne’s bag, finding secret files on her.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Virginia
- Developer
- Variable State
- Publisher
- 505 Games
- Engine
- Unity
- Platforms
- macOS · PlayStation 4 · Windows · Xbox One
- Released
- September 22, 2016
- Genre
- Adventure
- Modes
- Single-player
- Director
- Jonathan Burroughs · Terry Kenny
- Writer
- Jonathan Burroughs · Terry Kenny · Lyndon Holland
- Composer
- Lyndon Holland
- Programmer
- Kieran Keegan
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Virginia is the first game developed by Variable State, a British independent game developer founded by Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny, former developers with DeepMind Technologies. Lyndon Holland joined early as composer and sound designer, creating all music and Foley. The game was developed in the Unity engine by a remote team coordinating via videotelephony. Initially, the developers pursued ambitious concepts but found inspiration in Brendon Chung's Thirty Flights of Loving, which used cinematic editing in real-time gameplay. Combined with their shared interest in 1990s FBI noir productions like Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and Silence of the Lambs, this shaped Virginia's original story. The decision to omit dialogue was made to keep the team small and agile, focusing on cinematic editing and physical performances by a large cast. Animators Niamh Herrity and Aoife Doyle of Pink Kong Studios assisted with the animation workload.
Reader's Guide
Virginia's significance lies in its innovative use of real-time cinematic editing and complete absence of spoken dialogue, a risky approach that the developers felt allowed them to focus on storytelling through visual and physical performance. The game was first announced in July 2014, with a prototype shown at the 2014 Future of StoryTelling summit and EGX Leftfield Collection. After a delay from its original 2015 release, it launched on September 22, 2016, for multiple platforms. Critical reception was generally positive, with The Daily Telegraph awarding 5 stars and calling it an evolution of interactive narrative beyond Dear Esther, Gone Home, and Firewatch. TIME gave 4.5/5, praising its wordless moments, while Game Informer scored it 9.25/10, calling it a taut thriller balancing storytelling and interactivity. PC Gamer and Destructoid noted limited interaction and a story losing focus in the final act. The game won the Writers' Guild Award for Best Writing and a BAFTA for Music, and was included in top-10 lists by TIME, The Washington Post, and The Telegraph.
Did You Know?
- Virginia was the first game developed by Variable State, a virtual studio where all team members worked remotely.
- The game contains no spoken dialogue; the story is told through physical performances and cinematic editing.
- Lyndon Holland won a BAFTA for Music for his work on Virginia's soundtrack.
- The game's story was inspired by FBI noir productions such as Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and Silence of the Lambs.
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