Comments (150)
Great game with great storytelling. And art is really nice! I liked how the game encouraged my brain to put all the pieces of story together. And how realization that there's more to it hit me each time. Like oh, it seems book club doesn't like Sam. Oh, Comic Festival is not a Comic Festival. Oh, that's why book club doesn't like Sam. Though when I was reading Sam's messages to Phil about how her mom goes through her phone... for a second I thought that was a huge plot twist: what if you're playing as a mom? But I suppose diary hints Sam just threw her phone away at the end. Also I liked how you made passwords pretty easy to guess. I always feel a bit stupid when I play adventure games and I can't guess a password or something, but in this game I pretty much guessed everything at first try. It was an amazing experience, thanks :) Keep on good job!
This sounds exactly like Sarah is Missing
This game was so beautifull :D
I'm not gay or trans but I do support you guys.
Be yourself, everyone else is taken.
I think the game is really cool I love the 3D model (but I don't really think it's a copy of Sara is missing):3 keep developing:3
A Normal Lost Phone is a short, challenging and thoughtful game where you play as somebody who has just found a 'normal lost phone'. The game opens on a screen displaying four new messages, and when you click accept you are immediately directed to a screen of messages from the lost phone owner's worried father - it appears as if the phones owner has run away. You are then left to your devices to peruse the phone at will. The game screen is displayed as a literal smartphone screen, and you interact with the game by clicking on and exploring apps, perusing text messages, and browsing through the gallery and calendar.
One of the most interesting features of the game is sending messages. Although you cannot make your own messages to send, you will occasionally find a draft of a message that the previous owner has neglected to send. Clicking send sends the message and you will receive a response shortly after - this usually reveals more information about the mysteries of the phone or the owner.
To progress through the game you must explore the Contacts, Gallery, and Calendar apps to find the various key dates that are important in unlocking other areas of the phone - like the LovBirds and Calculator apps. These dates are pointed out by the phone owners friend Alice, and the order of months/days is specified by the phone owners Dad. This progression system works well in the game as it keeps you at certain areas until you have read enough information in order to move on - keeping some mystery to the story.
Although seemingly simple, this game has concise meaning as well as strong themes in it. The story is mainly focused on bringing more acceptance to transgender people and makes a statement about the influence of family and how much of an impact words can make. Particularly showcasing this is the phone owners obvious discomfort at being referred to as a man, even by people who mean well. This story provides a perspective to something that many people (approximately 99.7% of the population, according to livescience in 2015) don't experience.
Some parts of this game was disproportionately challenging - such as figuring out the dates for LovBirds and then the code for the Calculator. There is a lot of information to take in the first time you play the game, so getting dates mixed up, remembering who is who, and remembering all the information given to you can be difficult. To add to this, it was really tedious going through all of the contacts to find the relevant messages. A lot of contacts only had message trails about 1-5 messages long and didn't serve any purpose other than to normalise the phone browsing experience, however I think the same effect could have been achieved with a lot less dud contacts.
All in all, the concept of the game is incredibly interesting and I'd like to see it explored in other games. I liked their take on a trans persons experience and was particularly impressed with how the game allowed you to formulate your opinion of them as a person before discovering they are trans. I'd like to see other games delve into similar issues or use a the 'lost phone' concept to explore something else.
English
A Normal Lost Phone is a game about exploring the intimacy of an unknown person whose phone was found by the player.
The game takes the shape of a narrative investigation: you have to search the phone’s text messages, pictures and applications, in order to learn about its former owner. Through this phone, you uncover Sam’s life, friends, family and relationships, until the evening when they turn 18 and mysteriously disappear.
Features:
An immersive and intuitive way of introducing the narrative through a fake smartphone interface.
A game that bridges the gap between reality and fiction by letting players act as themselves. The game asks a simple question: if you close the app but still think about the game, have you truly stopped playing?
A relatable story that helps build empathy with the characters, allowing to explore difficult topics.
Français
A Normal Lost Phone est un jeu dans lequel on explore la vie intime d'une personne dont on vient de trouver le téléphone.
Le jeu prend la forme d'une enquête narrative : on est amené à fouiller les messages, photos et applications du téléphone, afin d'en apprendre plus sur la personne à qui il appartenait. A travers ce téléphone, on découvre la vie, les amis, la famille et les histoires d'amour de Sam, jusqu'à sa mystérieuse disparition le soir de ses 18 ans.
Points forts :
Une narration amenée de façon intuitive et immersive à travers l'interface simulée d'un smartphone.
Un jeu dans lequel on s’incarne soi-même, brouillant la frontière entre fiction et réalité. Le jeu pose une question simple : si vous pensez toujours au jeu après l'avoir quitté, avez-vous vraiment arrêté de jouer ?-- Une écriture réaliste et percutante qui aide à créer de l'empathie avec les personnages, permettant d'amener des sujets sensibles.
Português
A Normal Lost Phone é um jogo sobre explorar a intimidade de uma pessoa desconhecida cujo telefone foi encontrado pelo jogador.
O jogo toma a forma de uma investigação narrativa: você tem que procurar nas mensagens de texto, fotos e aplicativos para descobrir sobre seu antigo dono. Através deste telefone, você conhece a vida, amigos, família e relacionamentos de Sam, até a noite em que ele faz 18 anos e misteriosamente desaparece.
Conteúdo:
Uma forma imersiva e intuitiva de introduzir a narrativa através da interface de um smartphone.
Um jogo que faz a ponte entre realidade e ficção, deixando seus jogadores agirem como eles mesmos. O jogo faz uma simples pergunta: se você fechar o app mas ainda pensar sobre o jogo, você realmente parou de jogar?
Uma história relacionável que ajuda a criar empatia com os personagens, permitindo a exploração de tópicos difíceis.
Español
A Normal Lost Phone es un juego para explorar la intimidad de una persona desconocida cuyo teléfono ha sido encontrado por el/la jugador/a
El juego toma la forma de una investigación narrativa: tienes que rebuscar entre los mensajes del teléfono, las imágenes, las aplicaciones, para aprender cosas sobre la persona a la que pertenece. A través de su móvil, descubres la vida de Sam, familiares, amistades, relaciones, hasta la tarde en la que cumple 18 años y desaparece misteriosamente.
Características principales:
Una inmersiva e intuitiva forma de introducir la narrativa a través de la interfaz de un teléfono móvil.
Un juego que rompe la barrera entre realidad y ficción dejando al jugador/a desempeñar su propio papel: si cierras la aplicación pero aún piensas en el juego, ¿has dejado realmente de jugar?
Un relato para compartir que crea empatía con los personajes, animando a explorar temas difíciles de tratar.
Deutsch
Stell dir vor, jemand hat sein Smartphone verloren und du hast es gefunden. In “A Normal Lost Phone” machst du dich auf die Suche nach der Identität des Besitzers. Welche Geheimnisse gibt das Telefon preis?
Du durchsuchst die Nachrichten, Fotos und Apps, um herauszufinden, wem das Telefon gehört. Schnell stößt du dabei auf Details aus dem Leben von Sam: Freunde, Familie, Liebesgeschichten - und manche Ungereimtheiten. Was ist bei der großen 18. Geburtstagsfeier passiert? Wohin ist Sam verschwunden?
Features:
Eine packende Erzählung, die der Spieler intuitiv über das Interface eines “Smartphones” entdeckt.
Du spielst dich selbst. Grenzen zwischen Realität und Fiktion verschwimmen. “A Normal Lost Phone” stellt die Frage: Wenn du das Spiel weglegst, aber immer noch darüber nachdenkst, hast du dann wirklich aufgehört zu spielen?
Der Schreibstil ist realistisch und der Spieler fühlt mit den Charakteren mit. Schwierige Themen werden dabei nicht ausgespart.
Italiano
A Normal Lost Phone è un gioco in cui si esplora la vita intima di una persona di cui si è appena ritrovato il telefono.
Il gioco ha la forma di un’inchiesta narrativa: dovrete frugare tra i messaggi, le foto e le applicazioni del telefono per saperne di più sulla persona a cui apparteneva. Attraverso il telefono scoprirete la vita, gli amici, la famiglia e le storie d’amore di Sam fino alla sua misteriosa scomparsa, la sera dei suoi 18 anni.
Punti forti
Una narrazione condotta in modo intuitivo e immersivo attraverso l’interfaccia simulata di uno smartphone.
Un gioco in cui si finisce per impersonarsi, creando scompiglio nella distinzione tra finzione e realtà. Il gioco pone una semplice domanda: se continuate a pensare al gioco dopo averlo lasciato, avete davvero smesso di giocare?
Una scrittura realistica e convincente che aiuta a creare empatia con i personaggi, permettendo di affrontare tematiche importanti.
