A Normal Lost Phone
| A Normal Lost Phone | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Accidental Queens |
| Publisher(s) |
|
| Series | Lost Phone Stories[2] |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
A Normal Lost Phone is a 2017 puzzle video game developed by Accidental Queens and published by Playdius and Plug In Digital, released on Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch. The game was programmed by Diane Landais.[3] In September 2017 a spiritual sequel to the game was released, entitled Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story. The games explore themes of LGBT identity and domestic abuse by asking the player to investigate the phone of a stranger.[4][5][6]
Development
Originally developed during a game jam, the team would retrospectively identify design mistakes that were rectified in the sequel.[7]
Gameplay and plot
The game sees the player voyeuristically search through someone else's phone, a person named Sam living in the fictional city of Melren, thereby discovering bits about their life.[8] As the game progresses the player discovers several major secrets and events, such as the attempted rape of a friend by another of Sam's acquaintances. The player also learns that Sam is a bisexual transgender woman named Samira and has been hiding this from multiple people in her life, to whom she presented as a straight male. Players must utilize clues in the phone to unlock more information such as Sam's dating profiles, one where she presents as male and another as female, and a forum for transgender persons, where Sam comes to terms with her true gender. She eventually decides to come out to an acquaintance of hers named Lola, only to be met with hostility, which greatly depresses her. To make matters worse, she discovers that her parents and girlfriend are very bigoted towards the LGBT community, leading to Sam breaking up with Melissa. Sam eventually gains enough courage to come out to her friend Alice, who accepts her warmly. She's heartbroken when she realizes that Alice will be leaving town to attend college in another area, which will rob her of what Sam sees as the only positive person in her life, especially as she learns that her family has a history of disowning gay relatives. Ultimately Sam chooses to leave home to reinvent herself in another town after her father gifts her a motorbike for her 18th birthday and throws away her phone, aware that someone may find it and sift through her information. The only person she tells is Alice, who congratulates Sam on taking charge of her own life and comforts her by saying that anyone who finds her phone will likely erase the phone's data, especially if they have read all of the information and realized that this is what Sam would want. The game ends when the player erases the phone's data per Alice's message.
Reception and accolades
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | iOS: 83/100[9] PC: 71/100[10] NS: 73/100[11] |
On Metacritic, the game has a score of 83/100 on iOS, 71/100 on PC, and 73/100 on Switch.[9][10][11]
It was nominated for "Best Mobile Game" and "Best Screenplay", and won the "Special Jury Prize" with Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story at the 2017 Ping Awards;[12][13] it was also nominated for the A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game at the New York Game Awards 2018;[14] and for "Best Emotional Mobile and Handheld Game" and "Best Emotional Indie Game" at the Emotional Games Awards 2018.[15]
References
- ^ "A Normal Lost Phone on Steam". Archived from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
- ^ "Lost Phone Stories on Steam". Archived from the original on 2018-06-24. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
- ^ Gray, Kate (2017-03-31). "'A Normal Lost Phone' Is Anything But a Normal Dive Into Video Game Storytelling". Waypoint. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ Alexandra, Heather (2017-01-29). "A Normal Lost Phone Tries To Explore Trans Identity And Falls Short". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ Baume, Matt (2017-02-16). "A Normal Lost Phone Offers Players an Encounter With the Queer Experience". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ Gray, Kate (2017-10-03). "This Game About Domestic Abuse Helped Me Understand My Own Trauma". Vice. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
- ^ Wilbur, Brock (2017-10-04). "Getting the message right in Another Lost Phone". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (2017-09-24). "This mobile game lets you snoop through a lost phone". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ a b "A Normal Lost Phone for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ a b "A Normal Lost Phone for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2018-06-21. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ a b "A Normal Lost Phone for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2018-06-22. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
- ^ "Nommés aux Ping Awards 2017". Ping Awards (in French). 2017. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
- ^ "Les lauréats des Ping Awards 2017". Ping Awards (in French). 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
- ^ Whitney, Kayla (January 25, 2018). "Complete list of winners of the New York Game Awards 2018". AXS. Anschutz Entertainment Group. Archived from the original on 2018-01-27. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
- ^ "Emotional Games Awards 2018". Emotional Games Awards. March 12, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2019.