MSRP: Free
Platforms: Browser-based, appropriate for mobile devices.
Release: 2/7/16
A Normal Lost Phone is a free, browser-based game about finding a lost phone, and using that phone to learn about the person who owned it. If you’re good at finding the clues to the password-protected areas of the phone, you could certainly complete it in less than half an hour. It’s a cleverly constructed short story, and it’s absolutely worth your time.
When you first access the phone, you’re met with four urgent messages from Sam’s father. From there, you go through the contacts & apps on the phone to try to figure out what happened to Sam.
It’s really hard to say anything more about this game without spoiling it. My only gripe is that there seemed to be a lot of filler to check as a majority of things on the phone have little to nothing to do with the story. However, even that makes sense for a sense of realism – we all have those people in our lives we contact rarely, just as we have those people who are crucial to who we are.
It’s really an interesting journey, and it’s worth going through the whole thing for the story, even if you need to resort to hitting the web for hints. Like just about everything on the internet, I recommend against reading the comments (you will be spoiled!), but if you need help, one player has created a video that you can use to find the things you’re missing.
366 Days of Gaming 