The Operator is the deep state sim I’ve craved for so long

Knowledge is power, and there are few games where that’s as literal as The Operator.

The Operator is an indie game where you take up the role of Evan Tanner, a fresh-faced recruit at the Federal Department of Intelligence (FDI). It’s the early ’90s, and an old buddy has hooked you up with this cushy government gig. All you have to do is master a set of high-tech tools and serve as the man in the chair for agents on the front lines.

In The Operator, the action all takes place on Evan’s work computer. There are brief vignettes where Evan heads home to feed his cat, or moves into a restricted area of the FDI building, but the vast majority of your time will be sorting through files, hunting for clues, and solving mysteries.

It’s tricky to hinge a game on a core mechanic, but luckily, The Operator’s central system of talking with agents, watching short videos, and doing lab work is a lot of fun. I’m a former child who cried doing math homework, and part of me was worried that the game would expect me to start breaking out some serious equations. Luckily, the challenges are more based around reading instructions and solving logic puzzles.

The player in The Operator examines the results of a chemical test, using Chemical Scan technology from their employer.

I have access to the best technology of the 1990s, which means I can stop the recording on a specific frame and enhance, enhance, enhance to pick up a suspect’s face, a key code, or a license plate. None of the solutions are incredibly difficult, but they’re tough enough that I’d have to stop and sketch things out, and feel satisfied upon finding the answer.

None of the solutions are like the infamous old-school adventure puzzlers, where the solution is some esoteric combination of riddles. I can ask my handler for help, which is a nice set of training wheels, but for the most part I was able to enjoy the natural achievements of identifying suspects, hunting down addresses, or investigating criminal compounds.

It’s just a shame that the agents I work with are a little flat. Agent Pendell is a fresh rookie on the case and Agent Walker is a long-time FDI veteran. Those are fun archetypes, but the characters don’t wander too far outside that initial impression. There was one line that made me belly laugh where Pendell finds herself in a particularly perilous situation and cries out: “It’s my third day!” But mostly, the characters are window dressing that help move the plot onto the next puzzle.

The calling card of hacker HAL, showing a skull and signature in ASCII art depicted on a 90s monitor.

An antagonistic hacker, HAL, inserts themselves into the story as well by hacking their way right into Evan’s terminal. They are another character who falls flat, which is disappointing, considering that HAL immediately wraps Evan up in some subterfuge and deception. The high-stakes situation is stressful, but I was also irritated as a player, because HAL is not an interesting character. They’re full of useful information, but their voice sounds similar to much of the other cast, other than the use of the occasional emoticon.

Sometimes, it felt like the characters were intruding on my detective work in ways that detract from the experience. I’d solve a puzzle and get a compelling piece of info, only for the music to swell dramatically and my supporting cast to rush in and start explaining the conclusion. I would have preferred a little more time on my own to process things; it felt a little like developer Bureau 81 was afraid to risk leaving players in the dark. While I appreciate the handrails and ability to ask for help, it occasionally yanked me out of my immersion.

With all of that said, the central mechanic of The Operator is interesting enough that it hooked me into the game. The puzzles are sensible, my ‘90s-era operative tools are fun to use, and there’s an interesting story at the core of it all. Sure, the peanut gallery of supporting characters are a little chatty, and there’s a bit too much dialogue for my taste, but I’ll accept those flaws if it means I can finally be the man in the chair, scanning footage and ordering the computer to enhance. It’s a novel way to play a game, and I’d love to see Bureau 81 take another swing at the concept if this game succeeds.

The Operator was released on July 22 on Windows PC. The game was reviewed on PC using a code from Bureau 81. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.