Recently Played: A Normal Lost Phone

This one’s going to be on the shorter side, since many of my feelings about the game would result in spoilers!

 

A Normal Lost Phone is possibly one of the most heartbreaking games I have played.

It didn’t make me cry, but it made me think a lot about privilege and what I have in life.

Developed by Accidental Queens, the game’s premise is pretty straightforward: you have found an unlocked (no password!) smartphone lying on the ground. Do you explore its contents or erase all the data and take it for yourself? While there is an achievement for erasing the data without exploring, the game is about piecing together the events that transpired before the owner got rid of the phone. Digging through texts, emails, and forum posts gives you the clues you need to figure out just what happened.

Much of the game is centered around LGBT+ acceptance and its precisely that that made me think about privilege. I won’t get into what it means for the main character, as that would be spoiling a large portion of the plot, but it really made me think about how easily I’ve gone through life with my identity.

I live in a city with a large LGBT+ community. The city may not be 100% safe, but on the whole, people are free to express themselves and be open about their relationships and identities. My friends accepted my bisexuality without question, my parents have never denied my identity or told me that I’m less than human because of it. While there is still much to be desired in of the LGBT+ community’s treatment of bisexual people on the whole (biphobia is still a very real thing), we are not the most misunderstood or underrepresented members of our community.

I highly, highly recommend this game if you’re interested in something a little different in both format and subject matter. Thanks to Accidental Queens for making it!

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Buy it on Steam here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/523210/A_Normal_Lost_Phone/