It’s a shame that Robert Zemeckis didn’t have the foresight to give Marty McFly a smartphone in Back to the Future. After all, here we are in 2018, all carrying around small, rectangular devices full of our most intimate conversations, pictures, and financial information. If you’ve ever wondered how it would feel to find a strangers phone, ripe with all of that juicy information, you’ll soon have an answer as developer Seaven Studios is bringing A Normal Lost Phone and Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story to the Nintendo Switch on July 19th.
Initially developed by Accidental Queens, both A Normal Lost Phone and Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story task players with going through a strangers phone to solve the mystery of what happened to the phone’s owner. Offering a narrative-driven experience, both titles feature a user interface that resembles that of an average smartphone, giving players access to a variety of different apps on the stranger’s phone. To figure out the fate of the phone’s owner, players must piece together the strangers’ messages, pictures, and other information to create a concrete, detailed image.
While both titles in the bundle seem to reflect on how much information we regularly tote around in our pockets, the social commentary the games provide seems apt and much less heavy-handed then something like Black Mirror. If you’re interested in games with experimental UI’s, or pithy and emotional experiences, both A Normal Lost Phone and Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story are probably right for you.
Check out the trailer for the Nintendo Switch version of the game below. Both titles are now available on Windows, Mac, Google Play, and the Apple App Store.