“Her Story” and “Telling Lies” were wonderful mashups of database queries and full-motion videos. It shouldn’t surprise you that I quite enjoyed these non-linear games from Sam Barlow that rely on narrative, but it should underline what I am about to say: “Immortality” is so much better than either of those games.

Gone are the database queries to slowly unravel the story. Instead, “Immortality” asks the player to click on visual elements of each scene to find other clips that contain the same person or item. You then have to scrub through your available footage to find hints of what else is dangling out there. Maybe a bowl of fruit will just bring you to the same set on a different day, but perhaps it’ll bring you to an entirely different decade.

The moment-to-moment mechanics are more than entertaining enough to propel you through the game, but the real treat is the footage itself. It’s so easy to label any ol’ weird thing “Lynchian,” but you can absolutely feel “Mulholland Drive” seeping out of every pore here. This is the real deal.

The basic mystery revolves around discovering what happened to actress Marissa Marcel. There is plenty of “real world” footage of her doing interviews and rehearsing, but this fictional actress is also shown in three different “unreleased” films looking and behaving wildly differently. Manon Gage, the real person who played Marissa, ends up effectively starring as at least four different people in the game, and she absolutely crushes it.

There are plenty of strong performances, but the whole thing rests on her. She’s incredible.

Of course, nothing in the story is simple. You have to piece together the timeline for yourself, and even rolling credits won’t necessarily paint the entire picture. There’s an outrageous amount of material to sift through, and you’ll definitely want to revisit most of it as layers of understanding are revealed.

Telling you much more at this point would be unwise. It’s a game that begs to be explored slowly and carefully. You could be spoiled on plot points, I suppose, but the experience itself is basically impossible to spoil. Don’t worry about doing it right — just start clicking and watching.

However, I will note that this is a superb game to play with a partner. Talking things out and bouncing ideas off of each other will make the exploration go a whole lot smoother.

Go forth and live forever.

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Image credit: “Immortality,” Half Mermaid