Home / Games / The Operator
The Operator
Welcome to the FDI. As our newest Operator, your role is to use your detective skills to assist our field agents and investigate mysterious crimes. Use cutting-edge FDI software to dig for clues, solve puzzles, and uncover the truth.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
56 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Mechanics are great, but they're wasted on constant hand-holding to the point where I almost never felt like I was actually "playing" the game. "Click this. Now click this. Now listen to a voice actor veeerryy sloooowly…”
“A very cool game that was scratching the itch for a detective game. It really falls short for when you look at the playtime. You think you would be solving different cases left and right except it's one long case. The…”
“It is a very good game, and I do recommend it if it goes on sale. for now there's not much content to really play with. Honestly its not worth A$20 I paid for. Finished the entire game in 3 hours.”
44 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“*Well made thriller, intriguing story, albeit flawed and very short* The Operator has you play as Evan Tanner, the titular operator of the fictional FDI. Your task is to sit behind a computer and conduct forensic…”
“I really enjoyed this game, it was like a mix of Orwell and Cyber Manhunt! It's a quick one, and easy to get all the achievements on one play through. The story is interesting, and I really wish there was a part 2 so I…”
“Meh, not bad. Decent plot, and interesting game mechanics. It was a bit of a let down, considering the linearity. I would have liked to see more ending options, or at least your actions having plot consequences. 5/10,…”
14 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Actually amazing game, the story telling, visual design all tells a story that goes deeper then you first think. Theirs also a lot of hidden elements inside of the game that im guessing you can get accsess to throughout…”
“****SOME SMALL SPOILERS**** It was enjoyable to play as the music and the visuals were good. But in terms of story building it lacked quite a bit. The whole game kind of treats you like an idiot. It's very hand-holding,…”
“I'm not really into all the "X-Files" FDI an all that, despite CONTROL, which I guess can be counted in that category, The Operator is the only over game I played in that theme. It's really good. You can really feel the…”
11 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I really enjoyed this game, it was like a mix of Orwell and Cyber Manhunt! It's a quick one, and easy to get all the achievements on one play through. The story is interesting, and I really wish there was a part 2 so I…”
“A short, narrative-focused, flavor-rich, light puzzle game about a totally-not-FBI analyst helping field agents solve mysterious alien abductions ;) Best for a rainy afternoon with pretty much exactly 3 hours to kill.”
“I'm not really into all the "X-Files" FDI an all that, despite CONTROL, which I guess can be counted in that category, The Operator is the only over game I played in that theme. It's really good. You can really feel the…”
10 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I really enjoyed this game, it was like a mix of Orwell and Cyber Manhunt! It's a quick one, and easy to get all the achievements on one play through. The story is interesting, and I really wish there was a part 2 so I…”
“****SOME SMALL SPOILERS**** It was enjoyable to play as the music and the visuals were good. But in terms of story building it lacked quite a bit. The whole game kind of treats you like an idiot. It's very hand-holding,…”
“I'm not really into all the "X-Files" FDI an all that, despite CONTROL, which I guess can be counted in that category, The Operator is the only over game I played in that theme. It's really good. You can really feel the…”
23 of the 103 reviews raise this · 18 of them still recommend the game.
“Mechanics are great, but they're wasted on constant hand-holding to the point where I almost never felt like I was actually "playing" the game. "Click this. Now click this. Now listen to a voice actor veeerryy sloooowly…”
“A very cool game that was scratching the itch for a detective game. It really falls short for when you look at the playtime. You think you would be solving different cases left and right except it's one long case. The…”
“*Well made thriller, intriguing story, albeit flawed and very short* The Operator has you play as Evan Tanner, the titular operator of the fictional FDI. Your task is to sit behind a computer and conduct forensic…”
17 of the 103 reviews raise this · 16 of them still recommend the game.
“It is a very good game, and I do recommend it if it goes on sale. for now there's not much content to really play with. Honestly its not worth A$20 I paid for. Finished the entire game in 3 hours.”
“*Well made thriller, intriguing story, albeit flawed and very short* The Operator has you play as Evan Tanner, the titular operator of the fictional FDI. Your task is to sit behind a computer and conduct forensic…”
“Short but quite sweet. However that also colors the recommendation in that I can't recommend buying the game full price. Buying it on sale, it's a fantastic game that you can run through in a few hours, then go back and…”
13 of the 103 reviews raise this · 9 of them still recommend the game.
“Mechanics are great, but they're wasted on constant hand-holding to the point where I almost never felt like I was actually "playing" the game. "Click this. Now click this. Now listen to a voice actor veeerryy sloooowly…”
“A very cool game that was scratching the itch for a detective game. It really falls short for when you look at the playtime. You think you would be solving different cases left and right except it's one long case. The…”
“Meh, not bad. Decent plot, and interesting game mechanics. It was a bit of a let down, considering the linearity. I would have liked to see more ending options, or at least your actions having plot consequences. 5/10,…”
12 of the 103 reviews raise this · 11 of them still recommend the game.
“Meh, not bad. Decent plot, and interesting game mechanics. It was a bit of a let down, considering the linearity. I would have liked to see more ending options, or at least your actions having plot consequences. 5/10,…”
“****SOME SMALL SPOILERS**** It was enjoyable to play as the music and the visuals were good. But in terms of story building it lacked quite a bit. The whole game kind of treats you like an idiot. It's very hand-holding,…”
“I hope one day there will be multiple endings”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Mechanics are great, but they're wasted on constant hand-holding to the point where I almost never felt like I was actually "playing" the game. "Click this. Now click this. Now listen to a voice actor veeerryy sloooowly…”
“A very cool game that was scratching the itch for a detective game. It really falls short for when you look at the playtime. You think you would be solving different cases left and right except it's one long case. The…”
“[h1][b] TLDR: Sells itself as an investigative puzzler but delivers a mostly on-rails visual novel experience. The handful of genuine puzzles are great, making their scarcity all the more frustrating. [/b] [/h1]…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 91.6% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“I'm very on the fence about recommending this game. I would say pick it up on sale for a few reasons. For one, the game is very linear with almost no replay value outside of getting achievements. Their seems to have been many opportunities for branching story paths but your…”
— a player, Steam review · 6 hrs played“Good game, overall, and Operator 2 will be an instant buy for me. My two nit-picks: 1) One major part of the story was pretty obvious (to me at least). 2) It's far shorter than I would have liked (which tells you it's a good game or I wouldn't care).”
— a player, Steam review · 4 hrs played“etanner> Really interesting story, pulls u in bit by bit with clever clues & puzzles. My favourite is the bomb defusal event, really exciting!”
— a player, Steam review · 19 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
The Operator 2 Is In Development
Hey Operators,We recently passed the one-year anniversary of The Operator’s launch, and what a year it's been. Thanks to your incredible support, we’re excited to officially announce that development
Update 2.3
To check the version, look at the second number on the top right of the main menu. If it contains 5145 or greater, you're good! Changelog: - FIX: Videos should be more reliable in all PC platforms. -
Update 2.2
To check the version, look at the second number on the top right of the main menu. If it contains 514 or greater, you're good! Changelog: - FIX: In Evidence Room, the glyphs sometimes display ??? inst
The Operator Launches On Switch!
Hey Operators, We're excited to announce that The Operator is now available on Nintendo Switch. Part of our process for bringing the game to Steam Deck also allowed us to port the game to Nintendo's h
Update 2.1 #12
To check the version, look at the second number on the top right of the main menu. If it contains 5100 or greater, you're good! Changelog: - FIX: Some date tags were incorrect in german, breaking some
Games like The Operator
From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.
The Case of the Golden Idol
98.3% · 7,017 reviews
shares Narrative, Conspiracy, Crime, Thriller
The Rise of the Golden Idol
94.9% · 2,625 reviews
shares Narrative, Conspiracy, Crime, Thriller
Contradiction: Spot The Liar
95.3% · 2,854 reviews
shares Fmv, Conspiracy, Crime, Detective
Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer
95.3% · 920 reviews
shares Conspiracy, Crime, Thriller, Detective
SIMULACRA
90.8% · 3,167 reviews
shares Fmv, Thriller, Detective, Immersive Sim
Her Story
88.0% · 6,361 reviews
shares Fmv, Crime, Detective, Investigation
Scarlet Hollow — Episode 1
97.1% · 624 reviews
shares Thriller, Investigation, Choose Your Own Adventure, Interactive Fiction
Pentiment
94.9% · 5,286 reviews
shares Narrative, Conspiracy, Detective, Investigation
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Adventure, Indie, Simulation |
| Player tags | Detective · Investigation · Conspiracy · Puzzle · Atmospheric · Mystery · Immersive Sim · Thriller · Simulation · Crime · Narration · Point & Click (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Captions available · Adjustable Text Size · Camera Comfort · Color Alternatives · Custom Volume Controls |
| Languages | English * , French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 13 |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows 7 Processor: Intel i5 or equivalent Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: GTX 970 DirectX: Version 9.0 Storage: 3 GB available space