Choose Telling Lies
Choose Telling Lies if you want a Simulation experience. On Steam, it's currently about 41% cheaper on the Steam Store. Telling Lies launched in 2019.
Telling Lies vs The Empty Desk
Telling Lies and The Empty Desk both land in Indie, Adventure on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam. Telling Lies (2019) is 6 years older than The Empty Desk (2025). Telling Lies is currently ~41% cheaper on Steam than The Empty Desk (4.99 USD vs. 8.49 USD). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose The Empty Desk
Choose The Empty Desk if you want a Casual experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2025) and ships with the modern feature baseline. The Empty Desk launched in 2025.
Both Telling Lies and The Empty Desk sit in Indie and Adventure on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Telling Lies |  The Empty Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2019 | 2025 |
| Genres | Indie, Adventure, Simulation | Indie, Adventure, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Unsupported | Unrated |
| Price | 4.99 USD | 8.49 USD |
| Steam reviews | 61.2% positive (681 reviews) | 4 reviews |
| Multiplayer | Single-player only | Single-player only |
| Developers | Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid, Furious Bee Limited | CheesecakeGames |
Side by side
- Both share Indie, Adventure on Steam.
- Telling Lies (2019) is 6 years older than The Empty Desk (2025).
- Telling Lies is currently ~41% cheaper on Steam than The Empty Desk (4.99 USD vs. 8.49 USD).
- Telling Lies is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; The Empty Desk has no Deck rating yet.
Telling Lies vs The Empty Desk — FAQ
- Should I play Telling Lies or The Empty Desk first?
- If you want chronology, Telling Lies (2019) came out before The Empty Desk (2025). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Telling Lies and The Empty Desk similar?
- They overlap on Indie, Adventure on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.