A Normal Lost Phone – Review
Follow Genre: Point and Click
Developer: Accidental Queens
Publisher: Plug In Digital Label, Plug In Digital
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC

A Normal Lost Phone – Review

Site Score
7.2
Good: Narrative, Atmosphere
Bad: Extremely short, Some passwords are a bit too hard to find on your own
User Score
7.0
(1 votes)
Click to vote
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Many of us probably have had the urge to see what we can find on someone’s phone, perhaps only in our minds, but there are those that give in to this temptation. Nonetheless, what would you do if you find a smartphone on the street and you wish to see it returned to its owner? Well, if it’s unlocked, or can be unlocked without a password, you’ll have to browse through its content or messages to contact someone that the user clearly trusts. But what if you would find that the person who lost its phone might have a few secrets, making it even harder to determine if he actually wants to be found, or not.

A Normal Lost Phone

Story

As this game is all about its story, or at least the message it’s trying to send to the people who play it, we’ll try to keep the spoiler to a minimum, as this would certainly hamper the experience. Overall the basic idea is rather simple, you find a phone, and you start nosing around in it, be it for good intentions, or simple curiosity. At the beginning you’ll only be able to plow through the messages, as you have no Wi-Fi connection at your disposal, just yet. From said messages, you learn a lot about ‘Sam’, who loves music, board games, ‘books’, and actually seems to be a model teenager who cares a lot for his friends. Nonetheless, some messages are rather dubious, as it sometimes seems as if Sam is being referred to as a boy, or as a girl, and that he’s clearly in conflict with what he wishes to do with his life. As the story goes on, at least if you decide to read through everything properly, you’ll unlock more of the phone, and more of Sam’s life and happenings will be presented to you.

A Normal Lost Phone has a great narrative and a meaningful short story to tell to whoever plays this game. Nonetheless, this is one of those one-trick-pony kind of games that after you plow through the story, you’ll find no redeeming qualities to play it again, safe for if you haven’t read everything through yet. That being said, the story flows towards an interesting direction, and is certainly worth the hassle of finding the proper passwords to further unlock Sam’s phone.

A Normal Lost Phone 1

Graphics

Graphically this title is not that much to write home about, but it’s esthetically pleasing to the eye. You’ll be treated to a fairly bland color palette, in an almost familiar smartphone menu layout, which has not that many whistles and bells. You’ll find your way easily enough, as everything is marked in a straightforward fashion, with a picture gallery of hand drawn pictures, which add a personal touch to the game.

Sound

The moment you start messing with the phone, you’ll notice that the game is void of any music, but like many teenagers nowadays, Sam has some tunes stored on his device. The music you can put on in the background is rather mellow and relaxing, which certainly never gets annoying when reading through the many messages and emails on his device.

A Normal Lost Phone 2

Gameplay

It’s hard to categorize A Normal Lost Phone, but if we have to, we’d classify it as a point and click type of game. From the beginning you’ll be clicking through the menu of Sam’s smartphone, be it to listen to music, look at pictures, or read his messages. From here on out you’ll have to think rather hard to unlock further parts of his phone, for which you often require a password. While some are fairly easy to uncover, if you thoroughly read all the messages, others feel a bit farfetched making it understandable there are already a fair amount of walkthroughs to be found on the internet. Nonetheless, the effort of finding certain unlock keys is certainly worth it.

Truth be told, reading and browsing through menus is all this game has to offer in the gameplay department, and for a title such as this is works perfectly. That being said, if you’re good in finding the passwords, this title will only consume one or two hours of your time, thus making it a really short experience.

Conclusion

A Normal Lost Phone is a very interesting title for open-minded gamers, who love a great narrative above everything else. While this trip down Sam’s psyche is only a very short one, it’s a rather sweet and surprising one nonetheless. If you’re into a point and click story, with a fairly topical theme, this small title will give you a fair amount of satisfaction.

A Normal Lost Phone 3

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Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)
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A Normal Lost Phone - Review, 7.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

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